People are not zeros and ones

When you encounter a person, be wary of what they display themselves to be and what they truly are inside. Humans aren't 0 or 1. They are a whole spectrum of improbable and indeterministic feelings and thoughts. One can't be a complete demon, nor can one be an enlightened angel.

Let's talk about Siddhartha Gautama. Undoubtedly one of the best philosophers, yet flawed, chanting words to cast out devils. Not shaken by the thought of God or eternal punishment, yet a believer in hells and heavens. Hallucinating over past lives, praying to previous Buddhas. Not willing to dogmatize his teachings, yet forming a religion that many rely on falsely.

No man can be purely good or purely bad. Good and bad are a spectrum. People have both traits readily available to them whenever they need them. It depends on what gets acted upon and what gets shown on the surface.

We get shocked when an idol or guru of ours gets accused of a crime or wrongdoing. But I had to grow out of it. Richard Dawkins showing up in the Epstein files and providing advice to Prof. Krauss to get rid of an accusation was shocking. And the theists came to the conclusion that Dawkins is bad; therefore, the arguments he raised against dogma and theology are false. "Look at who used to talk about Christianity."

It's not too hard to accept that your teacher at high school, who is so well behaved, gets home and misbehaves with his family. It's easy to be convinced by the goodness they show at school. It's just that their feelings and thoughts are mixed and complex—more than we can perceive. Also, I am not saying that getting back home and abusing your family is justified because your feelings exist on a spectrum.

Naval, being such a profound communicator, supporting Trump's stupidity. Deleting his tweet defending your country as a citizen after the US–Iran war tells a lot about the psyche. Of course, he is still a great communicator and a thinker, but we have to grow out of the idea that he is divine.

The person who talks about good habits might disappear for a week drinking.

How do you get out of the sense of divinity that's portrayed? Study confirmation bias. Confirmation bias is the unconscious tendency to search for, interpret, favour, and recall information that supports your existing beliefs while actively ignoring or dismissing contradictory evidence. It acts like a mental filter, shaping how you process the world.

Actively seek to question a person's entirety. Don't judge only by what you've seen. My previous writing, Surface Lies, Look Beneath, talks about this idea in more detail. Also, What You See Is All There Is.

It's easy to be lured by one side of a human without seeing the other sides. Many people are okay with the media knowing their inner conscience, showing both good and bad traits, subjective to the audience consuming it.

But many aren't okay with that, and that's where the shock comes from. After seeing your favourite musician being accused of rape or murder, it's okay to fall apart. I sometimes do too.

But it's also important to outgrow any specific dogma or ideology. It hinders your growth.