Transcendent Man is a 2009 documentary on the life and ideas of Raymond Kurzweil, a renowned inventor and leading contributor to the field of artificial intelligence. The theme of Transcendent Man is based on Kurzweil’s theory of singularity. Kurzweil believes that within the next century human life will be completely emerged and interconnected with machines and computers.

Some of his predictions for the future include:

• In 2020, one personal computer will have the same processing power as a human brain.
• In the 2020s, a computer will pass the Turing Test. The Turing Test is when a human communicates with one person and one machine, and if the person can’t tell which is the machine, then the machine passes the test. This is considered the standard test in A.I. when determining if a machine is conscious or not.
• In the 2030s, nanotechnology will be used to carry out many of our medical procedures, including brain scans, administering medicines and antibiotics, etc.
• In the 2030s, mind uploading will become possible. Mind uploading is when we can upload our brain’s biological data into a computer.
• In the 2040s, through the use of nanotechnology and mind uploading, people will spend most of their time immersed in a virtual reality (Kurzweil has cited the movie The Matrix as similar to how our virtual realities will be).
• In 2045, $1000 buys a computer a billion times more intelligent than every human combined.
• In 2045, The technological singularity occurs as artificial intelligences surpass human beings as the smartest and most capable life forms on the Earth. Humans won’t be able to comprehend what machines are communicating unless they merge their brains with computers (because of how much faster thoughts and information will be processed once we reach this point).

Why does Kurzweil expect so much technological growth within the next half century? It has to do with what he calls the law of accelerating returns. In this law, Kurzweil describes how the rate of change in information systems tends to increase at an exponential rate.

This can be observed in both evolutionary theory (there is exponentially more gene diversity today than there was during the beginning of life, and remember genes are nothing more than encoded information that makes up our biology). And the same phenomena can also be observed in technological growth (technology feeds on technology and gets increasingly more powerful).

For example, today a person in Kenya with a cellphone has more access to information than the U.S. President did 10 years ago. That is how rapidly technology is evolving today. Similarly, during the late 1960s, Kurzweil recalls working with a computer in MIT that was the size of a whole room; today, the technology in most of our cellphones is 100 times smaller but 100 times more powerful.

Kurzweil imagines technologies will continue to get more powerful, more compact, and more affordable. At some point, Kurzweil predicts we will be able to infuse nanotechnology into our bloodstream, technology that is more powerful than the computers we are using right now. This nanotechnology can be used to fight diseases and protect us from illness. As the process continues to develop, we will eventually reach the point of singularity – where technology has completely outpaced the evolution of human life.

In order to adapt to such a new standard-of-living and culture, Kurzweil believes that humans are going to need to fully merge with their technology. It’s hard to imagine what it may be like. Perhaps a Google-like search engine implanted into our frontal cortex, new memory chips being added to our hippocampus, or a high-resolution camera being attached to our occipital lobe. These are just some ideas floating around, but the possibilities are virtually endless.

Interestingly, if you ask your parents or grandparents, they will probably remark on how amazing technology has become over the past few decades. But according to Kurzweil, the children being born today are going to see even more incredible mind-blowing advancements being made throughout their lifetime. It’s all due to this law of accelerating returns, and the idea that technology continues to build off of older technology.

One of the most surprising predictions Kurzweil makes is the notion of immortality. When technology officially outpaces evolution, Kurzweil believes that humans will have the capacity to use this technology to prolong lives indefinitely. Kurzweil imagines an alternative lifestyle where we live in virtual worlds (kind of like the online game “Second Life”). This could be a viable alternative to biological decay and death – and even Kurzweil himself believes that there is a good chance he will be able to live forever in such a world. It would be just like a customizable videogame, where we can choose different avatars and download ourselves into almost any environment we can imagine.

In fact, Kurzweil believes in this notion of immortality so strongly that he keeps himself on a strict medical regimen to improve his chances of living until the singularity hits. According to Transcendent Man, Kurzweil’s health routine used to include 250 pills, 8-10 glasses of water, and 10 cups of tea every day. He has since cut down his pill intake to 150 pills a day – which is still quite the feat. Kurzweil has also teamed up with “anti-aging” doctor Terry Grossman to help prolong his life as far as possible. The two have collaborated on 2 health-related books, their latest called Transcend: Nine Steps To Living Well Forever. It includes various advice and tips on diet, nutrition, aerobics, weight-training, supplements, relaxation, and the future of medicine.

If all of Kurzweil’s dreams come true, he will live forever, and also be able to resurrect an avatar of his Dad who he has been saving information on all of his life. To do this, Kurzweil has literally collected a room full of documents, letters, and photos of his Dad which he believes he can one day use to create a digital file. Perhaps then – in virtual land – he can meet his Dad once again.

Imagine how remarkable this would all be if it could come true.

How much is Kurweil full of it?

If you are reading these ideas and predictions for the first time, I’m sure you’ve thought “Wow!” at least once or twice mixed with some feelings of skepticism and doubt. I agree – these ideas can be hard to swallow. But I think Kurzweil is at least partially right that technology will continue to merge with human life, and the implications might be massive and unpredictable.

Although Kurzweil’s ideas may sound extreme, he is a man with a fairly good reputation of predicting future events and being on the cusp of the latest advancements in technology. When Kurzweil first started, he became known for developing a “text-to-speech” reader for the blind (an invention that won him the National Medal of Technology from then President Bill Clinton). Kurzweil is also widely known in the music industry for his development of Kurzweil synthesizers and electronic keyboards (I’m fortunate enough to say the Kurzweil K2000 was the first electronic keyboard I ever owned).

Kurzweil has received numerous awards from universities and science academies over the years and is typically a well-respected figure in the fields of artificial intelligence and technology.

But the thing I’m most concerned about with Kurzweil’s endeavors is his fear of death, and his seeming motivation to do all of this to save his father. Many of Kurzweil’s critics claim that he is overly optimistic regarding the capabilities of technology over the next century. They also claim that he is underestimating the potential of this technology to be used for evil (think – The Terminator).

Despite Kurzweil’s obvious intelligence, he may be a man ridden with some issues he isn’t willing to accept the reality of. I hope that if his quest for immortality doesn’t come true, that he is a man who can still face his death with dignity.

If you want to learn more about Kurzweil’s personal life and career, Transcendent Man does a good job of going over these personal matters that drive Kurzweil’s genius and more about his theories and ideas on singularity.

An adult that doesn’t understand basic math or English will likely suffer due to their lack of knowledge. They will have a hard time adapting to a world that expects you to be able to keep track of your own finances, or write an e-mail to a family member, friend, employer, or politician.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that the educational institutions we have now are the only (let alone the most desirable) way to teach children these fundamental skills. In fact, our educational system today seems to come with many drawbacks and unhealthy assumptions regarding how to properly educate children.

I’ve been critical of today’s schools ever since I’ve been a part of them. It’s not because I’m bitter for getting poor grades (actually, I was mostly a straight A student who took a college semester’s work of AP classes before I ever graduated high school). I was technically “smart,” in the sense that I knew how to perform well on tests, but that’s not all there is to a good education.

I also don’t think that my dislike of school is due to my specific circumstances. Meaning, I just happened to be put into a bad school. From what I gather, New York has some of the best public schooling in the country, and my particular high school happened to be one of the “better” ones in Nassau County. By all measures, my peers and I were quite “privileged” to attend the schools that we did. Yet, the system still seemed ridden with problems and short-comings that I believe have led to some long-term struggles for me. I imagine these problems are equally represented in other schools around the country (or even around the world).

While I could probably write a book elaborating on some of these things that I believe ruin our current schooling system, I’m going to narrow my focus to 5 main points that I think are fairly universal among most schools. Some of these will likely resonate with your own experiences. Others may not.

1. Grades are more important than knowledge.

This is one of the most common critiques I see regarding schools, and rightfully so. There is a world of difference between knowing how to regurgitate facts on a multiple choice or “fill-in-the-blank” test compared to actually understanding the material you are learning. In school, we are taught that an “A” is the highest level of achievement. And so long as you know how to memorize the right things and take a test, then you are presumably “intelligent.”

Why it doesn’t work: When we teach our students how to be more focused on grades, rather than the love for knowledge, we set ourselves up for an intellectually lazy generation. One that is content on mediocrity and “getting by,” rather than developing a true sense of wonder and curiosity.

2. The key to success is obedience and conformity.

As I mentioned in the introduction, I was a very good student on paper. Teaches usually liked me because I didn’t cause a ruckus, I didn’t question what they said, and I was very obedient and complacent to what they demanded from me. Even when we were told to write persuasive essays, I usually argued in favor of something that I knew the teacher would approve of (even though in my head I wanted to rebel against these social norms). My few experiences trying to deviate from what was expected usually back-fired on my report cards. I remember one time writing an essay about why video games were good for children, I remember my grade being significantly deflated compared to the times where I argued in accordance to my teacher’s values.

These troubles were especially prevalent throughout my history classes (which were by far my least favorite subjects). As a social science, you cannot teach history without presenting the information from some kind of point-of-view. The best history teachers are the one’s who try to cover issues from a variety of different perspectives, but often times your history teacher is personally biased to present information in a certain way. Critical thinking often becomes diminished for the sake of being a “good student.” To add to the fire, these classes are usually our first taste of politics, so we become molded into a certain way of thinking before ever having the ability to form our own beliefs.

Why it doesn’t work: Often we aren’t just learning English or history – we are implicitly being taught how to conform to the teacher’s worldview, beliefs, values, and personal philosophy. Parents may think they are sending students to school to learn fundamental and universal skills, but often children walk out with a cleverly molded view of reality. (This of course is also true in parenting and other early experiences throughout a child’s life, but the point still stands strong, and schooling is one of the biggest culprits).

3. Procrastinate ’till the last minute and you’ll be OK.

So many people I know bullshitted their way through school. They learned all the tricks on how to perform well on homework and tests without ever really putting in any planning or effort. For example, in English class, I used spark notes the night before I had to write an essay way more than I ever read the books we were supposed to read. And grade-wise, I did just fine. For most tests, I could usually cram some memorization in the night of and pass with flying colors. By the time the test was over, I forgot everything I “learned,” and got prepared to bullshit for the next chapter.

Maybe I was smart, maybe the classes were just too easy. That’s one problem you’re going to have when you try to standardize the curriculum to fit hundreds of individual’s varying needs. For me? I rarely felt challenged. I left school thinking I could cut-corners everywhere (and I still face the consequences of this mindset today).

Why it doesn’t work: Now that I’m in the real world, I know that the success I want to accomplish is going to take deliberate planning and hard work. I never learned these lessons in school – I’m trying to learn them now.

4. Your individual interests are largely irrelevant.

In this great interview, John Taylor Gatto describes the origins of our current school system. He claims today’s system is largely modeled after the Prussian educational system in the mid-1800s. In the U.S., the Prussian system was advocated and financed by industrial power giants like John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, and JP Morgan. They viewed individuals in a population as essentially cogs in a wheel; individuals were described as “raw materials” that needed to be “processed” in order to fit the demands of the current economy.

Instead of supporting students to pursue their individual talents and skills, their potential was largely ignored or thwarted, and instead the demands of society as a “whole” (mainly decided on by a select few social engineers – industrialists and politicians) became of primary importance. In essence, the education system was designed to manipulate and control populations on a massive scale. I would argue much of this still holds true today.

Why it doesn’t work: At the very least, the current education system diminishes our potential to evolve and grow, both as individuals and as a society. As individuals – our talents, skills, interests and values are placed as secondary importance. As a society – we lose out on a lot of creative and innovative thinking that could otherwise improve social progress. See this classic TED lecture by Sir Ken Robinson on how schools kill creativity.

5. Social hierarchies are rigid and hard to break.

One aspect of education that isn’t exactly related to class work is the social hierarchy that is often reinforced behind school walls. Of course, every child has certain social inclinations. Some may prefer large groups of peers, while others may prefer to hang out with smaller groups. The problem with schools is that there isn’t much breathing room to accommodate different student’s social preferences. Most students are usually mandated to be in a classroom with 25-30 students everyday of the week for 6-7 hours (this is usually the standard in both private and public schools).

As a result, introverted individuals, who may need extra time away from people to “recharge their social batteries” won’t get that accommodation met. Instead they will be uncomfortably placed in social settings that in-fact inhibit their social development and make them incredibly nervous and anxious.

School doesn’t directly teach us how to be social or manage our relationships, it just sort of throws us into a social cage and whatever haphazardly develops out of it is what we get. Often for males, aggressive jocks and alpha males rise to the top, while passive nerds and geeks get bulldozed over. And for females, looks and gossip are of primary importance if you want to fit in. Of course these are cliches, but it touches on a general tendency that develops and becomes reinforced throughout many school hierarchies. In return, many students graduate with a warped view of others.

Why it doesn’t work: Schools are a very confining place for social interactions to develop in a healthy manner. They are rarely a good environment to foster compassion and empathy toward others.

Conclusion

I’m sure you won’t agree with everything I said here – everyone’s experiences at school are a bit different. For some, middle school and high school may have been the best times of their lives. For others, it may have been a complete nightmare.

The big point I want to make here is that there are some obvious drawbacks and limitations that come with our current schooling, which unfortunately we don’t seem to have many viable alternatives for.

In general, I think the attitude towards learning that is propagated in many schools today runs at the antithesis to a proper education. Curriculum has been standardized to the point where it only appeals to the lowest common denominator of people. Meanwhile, most individuals, especially ones with passions, skills, and talents, usually have their strengths minimized for the sake of conformity and easy management. As a result, I really feel we all suffer.

My best advice is that:

• If you’re in school now, then recognize that it isn’t the most accurate depiction of reality. Learn what you can, but be mindful to question authority and not take what you are told for granted. Start exercising this independence now, and you’ll have a greater advantage when you step into the “real world.”
• If you’ve already graduated from school, then be mindful of some of the unhealthy lessons from your childhood that you may still be carrying around with you today. Find ways to test your old assumptions, and try to see the world from a greater diversity of perspective.

I’m sure I can ramble about these things plenty more, but this is probably a good stopping point for now. If you want to follow some of my future writing on this subject and others on personal development, then please feel welcome to join my newsletter for weekly updates.

Question:

What aspects of school did you find to hinder your personal development?

I read a lot of different blogs and sites on personal development, and I notice that it is popular (and probably more profitable) to give others a false image of instant gratification.

People don’t just want to be happy or successful, they want to be happy or successful right now.

The problem with this desire is that it ignores the work and effort it often takes to achieve something in life. It’s a process that takes time to carry itself out. There are no magic pills to take, or blueprints to follow, that will give you everything you want automatically. Overnight success is a myth.

Brainwashed on instant gratification…

Our current culture has severely brainwashed us to believe that the moment we want something we deserve it. Want to listen to a song? It only takes a couple clicks on YouTube. Want to contact someone? It takes less than 20 seconds to find them on your phone or message them on Facebook. Want a juicy cheeseburger? Go through the McDonald’s drive-thru. Want a new X? You can probably find it in some store that you live less than 5 minutes away from. Today, it’s just too friggin’ easy to find instant gratification, so we have come to expect it in everything.

To drill this point a little further, I’m reminded of a video I recently saw on YouTube of comedian Louis C.K. talking about how much we think the world owes us. He describes a recent experience he had in a plane where they had high-speed internet (clearly, a huge privilege compared to what we had last decade, let alone last century). However, during the flight the internet service went down, and a person sitting next to Louis C.K. then grumbles, “Psh…this is bullshit!”

“Like how quickly the world owes him something he knew existed only 10 seconds ago…”

Of course, it is wonderful that our would is filled with so many privileges. At the same time, it’s very easy for any of us to become a spoiled brat. When this starts trickling over into our core values, finding happiness, fulfilling relationships, creativity, starting a business – whatever it may be – then we set ourselves up for disappointment and failure.

The costs to success

The opposite of short-term gratification is the acceptance that short-term costs are sometimes necessary for long-term benefits. Things don’t magically improve overnight, you need to put in the blood, sweat, and tears to make it happen. You need to try new things, explore, fail, learn, and persist. And most likely there will be pain throughout the process – so consider them growing pains.

Every “overnight success” was actually weeks, months, and years in the making. Some people like to cite Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” as an instant success, but Nirvana had been around since 1987 – 4 years before their hit single was ever released. And before then? Each band member was practicing their instruments and learning how to perfect their craft. It sometimes feels like a band or artist just explodes overnight, but the truth is a lot of us are unaware of all the things that happened behind the scenes before things started to take off.

The point of this post isn’t to discourage you from trying to pursue your goals. I only want you to know what you are in for if you plan to succeed. It’s usually not a walk-in-the-park. At the very least, achieving anything is going to cost you some time to make it happen. It’s going to take much more patience then downloading a song off the internet or sitting on the drive-thru line for Taco Bell. For awhile, your goals are going to seem abstract and far away, and only daily persistence is going to gradually make those visions more vivid and clear.

Contrary to what they tell you in The Secret or Law of Attraction, fulfilling your goals is going to take much more than imagination and desire. Although those may be good starting points, you will also need to take action, and lots of it. Although I understand why overnight success sounds very attractive, it is ultimately too idealistic.

Evan is different than other personal development writers due to his focus on Gestalt Psychology and his extensive knowledge on the history of mental health. He draws on past literature and enlightens it with his own intuitive thinking and personal experience. Whenever you converse with him, he is like an endless resource of ideas (I actually had to cut a good portion of this interview just because it was way too long. There may be a Part 2 in the works sometime soon). For now, check out some of Evan’s ideas on “Living Authentically” and make sure you check out his blog once you’re finished.

Living Authentically With Evan Hadkins

STEVEN: What does it mean for you to “live authentically?” And why do most people seem to have trouble with it?

EVAN: I’m living authentically when I am gripped by something and acting on it. For me, this is often exploring a way of thinking or talking with someone about what matters to them. For others, it will be very different – their craft or sport or career . . . it is slightly different for everyone.

I think there are many different reasons people have trouble with it. Some people just haven’t had the chance to try out different things or find their particular thing. I didn’t know ’til I was in my late 20′s that there was such a thing as ‘the history of ideas’ but I find it fascinating. I didn’t know that there was such a thing as leather stamping until I worked in a drop-in-centre and found it easy to do. Some people just haven’t noticed that they love something and have always done other things. They just haven’t noticed how great it is for them to do their particular thing (chatting to friends, going for a walk, pursuing their hobby, whatever it may be).

Another reason is social and family messages. Some people have been told that what they love to do is either bad or not worthwhile. This can be gender based – girls can be told not to be physically active (a ‘tom-boy), guys can be told to not show their feelings (be a ‘sissy’). Likewise, our culture values some things more than others. Women are probably valued more than men for looking after sick relatives. Men are probably valued more than women for being corporate warriors. Things done at home are usually valued less than public achievements.

Doing what we have been told is not valuable can be difficult because we believe it. When we are trying to do this it can mean dealing with some very deep ideas and feelings and overcoming unpleasant sensations (feeling nauseous or fearful for instance). We may feel disloyal to our family, faith, tradition, or some other group. Being a blogger doesn’t feel like ‘real work’ to me – as defined by my father. It took me a long while to get out of ‘real men do what they have to do – ie. they shouldn’t enjoy themselves’ trap.

Having people who will support us as we live more authentically is incredibly valuable. If I have achieved anything worthwhile it is because very gifted people were very patient with me. Very few of us are “self-made men or women.” Those who have had to do it all alone I find extraordinary and admirable. I don’t think I could have and I didn’t have anything terribly big to deal with.

STEVEN: Would you say that when you find that authentic passion that it is a clear feeling of belonging or authenticity? Like you just know you were made for playing baseball, or writing novels, or cooking, or whatever? I’m sure the feeling is a bit different for everyone, but could you elaborate on what it was like for you?

EVAN: For me authenticity is often a particular kind of self-forgetfulness. I’m just completely doing whatever I’m doing. The realization of the authenticity comes afterward. Sometimes it is a sense of elation: this feels right, yes! It does have a feeling of ‘getting to grips with’ whatever it is or ‘being in touch’ with whatever it is.

STEVEN: What happens (or what does it mean) when people think their authentic self isn’t good enough? Like when someone hears the old advice “just be yourself,” but they feel they’ve always done that and it’s never really worked. What do you tell these people?

EVAN:: It could mean that they have been told this directly or indirectly. The strongest messages are usually from early childhood. And the strongest messages are usually modeled rather than stated directly. My father never told me “Don’t express your emotions” but I have never seen him cry, tell his wife (my mother) that he loves her, tell any of us kids he loves us. We don’t doubt that he does love us, but the message “Don’t express your emotions” was very clearly modeled for me.

We will sometimes hear a message in our head. Often little ‘wise sayings (like “all things come to those who wait,” or, “if you want to find something – start tidying up”) or ‘shoulds’ (like “don’t waste time,” or, “think of others not yourself”). These messages can get in the way of us doing new things or trying out stuff we would like to check out.

The advice “just be yourself” can be quite harmful. It can be seen as meaning ‘be impulsive’ and this can have bad results. I think ‘be yourself’ means something like ‘be all of who you are’. This includes both our thoughts and feelings. It also, in my view, includes our sense of purpose, physical bodies and relationships. The biggest problem I have with “just be yourself” is that it doesn’t offer any clues about how to do this. And it is intellectually confusing – after all, I am me, and nobody else.

It may mean that they have never been given intelligent guidance. A person may know that they are a musician but never had a good teacher who will help them develop their own style.

It could mean that they need to become more aware of the impact that the messages and models from their childhood have on them now.

My approach is to work with someone’s desire or sense of purpose and their feeling of frustration. I also think it is best to work in small steps – and the bigger the stuff they are dealing with, the more important it is to work in small safe steps. These are my values. I don’t think risk is necessarily good and I don’t think people have to jump in feet first just because a self development guru says they should.

STEVEN: You’ve been blogging and writing about self-development since April 2007 (really impressive!) When would you say you first got interested in self-development literature? What was the first book you read on the subject?

EVAN: My journey into self development really started by getting interested in my emotions. Growing up in Evangelical Christianity I had devalued my feelings. The first book to help me with this was Born to Win (about Transactional Analysis) by James and Jongeward. I think it is excellent.

Another book that put it all together for me is Perls, Hefferline and Goodman’s Gestalt Therapy. I think this is superb and much undervalued. It is not a light read but any time spent with it pays many many times over. It is magnificent. The primary insight is that psychology is about the person adapting and creating in their situation. This process is the process of our life and we can get better at, know where we have difficulties, and do things to use these difficulties to live more fully. There is a review of it on my blog that gives more details.

The book Gestalt Therapy is usually regarded as being about psychotherapy but it is really far far more. Read it, and work with it, it can change your life very much for the better – it did mine.

STEVEN: For those who are just finding out about you, what resources would you refer them to in order to learn more?

EVAN: The best place to find out more about me is my blog. There is an about page which says more about me. There is also an All About Living Authentically that is a guide to the blog. My manifesto is linked to on the blog. This is a collection of exercises so that people can find how to live authentically for themselves. It is mostly exercises with exercises so it is not just reading. But it lays out may approach to authenticity and self development.

These are the best places. People are more than welcome to contact me via the contact page with any question or anything more they want to know.

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I have a nasty (yet often rewarding) habit of finding ways to critique nearly everything. Sometimes it really irritates people. They think I’m trying to show off or I’m being pedantic, but I just like progress. One time while critiquing a friend’s opinion he replied, “Steve, you can poke a hole in anything.” I don’t think he meant it as a compliment, but I took it as one anyway.

While it’s not always appropriate to show criticism, sometimes it can spark very healthy discussion. That’s usually my goal. I don’t aim to piss people off, but some people will always find a way to take disagreements personally.

On the other hand, I encourage disagreements. I see them as an expression of our diversity as a species. We all have different viewpoints, different knowledge, and different values, so not only is disagreement inevitable, but it helps us to better understand others, as well as better understand ourselves. Being able to tolerate these differences is a huge mark of maturity and intelligence.

That’s why I encourage readers of this blog to feel free to disagree with me. I know I’m not perfect and I know others have different values than me, so I always appreciate it when people share their thoughts in the comment section or on my Facebook and Twitter. It helps me learn new things and see from alternative viewpoints.

As the quote on the top of this page suggests, being able to disagree is a part of your right to freedom of speech and thought. It’s what makes democracies and free societies work. If we all conformed to the norm, nothing could be improved. We would all just settle for the status quo. But upstanding individuals like Martin Luther King Jr, Gandhi, and Thomas Jefferson didn’t settle for the status quo. They exercised their freedom to disagree even when they were the underdogs. And much of the social progress we take for granted today is a result of that kind of bravery; the kind of bravery that doesn’t succumb to social norms or tradition, but pushes the envelope and later emerges into a new standard of living.

I don’t know about you guys, but sometimes I even get suspicious when someone is always in full agreement with me. I guess I find it hard to believe. They may be just trying to please me, but I’d rather they let their personalities shine through more. We shouldn’t be ashamed to hide our differences, as often they are a sign that both parties have something to learn from each other.

So I’m going to keep this message real short: you have your own mind, with your own thoughts, and your own beliefs and values. Use it! Be willing to express it and also be willing to let others express their beliefs. If you find yourself struggling with taking criticism or others disagreeing with you, try some of these tips on how to take criticism.

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