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Discuss the November 2022 Philosophy Book of the Month, In It Together: The Beautiful Struggle Uniting Us All by Eckhart Aurelius Hughes.

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#446293
Nqobile Mashinini Tshabalala wrote: August 16th, 2023, 1:42 am I usually give people a chance to tell their stories and dish out unsolicited advice but I filter out a lot of what they say and how they say it so there are times when I do listen to unhappy people. But I agree with the rest!

[Emphasis added.]
I think we agree on everything because I was not and am not saying to "never listen to unhappy people".

Needless to say, there is a huge difference between merely 'listening' to someone versus taking their advice.

In analogy, there's a huge difference between looking at what time a broken clock says it is versus believing that it is that time.

In fact, there could be benefit to listening to what an unhappy person advises so that you can then intentionally do the opposite of what they suggest as to thereby aim to hopefully avoid doing the things that result in unhappiness.

In analogy, if you were trying to lose weight, it would be like listening to the exercise plan and food suggestions a morbidly obese person gives you so that you can go out of your way to avoid eating those foods and avoid following that kind of exercise plan.

I don't suggest blindly doing the opposite of what they advise, but there definitely can be benefits in listening to what they advise so you can note it down mentally as something that has been tested and failed already. :)


With love,
Eckhart Aurelius Hughes
a.k.a. Scott
Favorite Philosopher: Eckhart Aurelius Hughes Signature Addition: View official OnlineBookClub.org review of In It Together: The Beautiful Struggle Uniting Us All

View Bookshelves page for In It Together: The Beautiful Struggle Uniting Us All
#446294
Dalia Chaouaf wrote: August 16th, 2023, 9:09 am I don't know if I partially agree or simply disagree. Unhappy doesn't mean unwise.
I didn't say that unhappy means unwise.

Even a broken clock is right twice a day.

Someone can be very wise, but you still don't want to take their advice if there is someone even wiser whose advice is available.

Someone can be very reliable, but you still don't want to take their advice if there is someone whose advice is even more reliable.

The question isn't whether or not an unhappy person's advice is always necessarily wrong, or is the absolute worst advice out there. The question isn't whether following an unhappy person's advice will always definitely make you unhappy.

Rather, where X is the reliability of someone's advice, in this case an unhappy person's advice, I'm not saying X is the worst, only that it isn't the best and isn't the absolute most reliable advice available to you.

The question is whether their advice is the absolute most reliable, and the answer is no, definitely not. All else the same, the advice from a happy person will be more reliable at making you happy than the advice of an unhappy person.

Even if the unhappy person's advice is very reliable despite the red flag of it being given by someone who failed to be happy, and thus who hasn't proved their advice works by using it themself as a test case, there is still even more reliable advice out there that has all the same pros of the failure's advice without the con that is that red flag of them not having proven their advice works by using it themself.


With love,
Eckhart Aurelius Hughes
a.k.a. Scott
Favorite Philosopher: Eckhart Aurelius Hughes Signature Addition: View official OnlineBookClub.org review of In It Together: The Beautiful Struggle Uniting Us All

View Bookshelves page for In It Together: The Beautiful Struggle Uniting Us All
#446382
I understand why people will think so. However, I believe that everyone has a story to tell. Even if they are happy or unhappy., we must give everyone his due. Therefore everyone can learn from each other whether they are happy or unhappy.
By Hyfr Zack
#446514
Unhappy people always corrupt the mind of the good ones with negativity. They would want to put you in the same situation with themselves. Bad energy bring unhappiness in one's life. As the saying goes "birds of a feather flocks together."
By Jnapika D
#446649
I think that is very subjective; there are a lot of things to consider before arriving at such conclusions, the main question being, Why are they poor? Why are they obese? Why are they unhappy? Then, is the cause modifiable or not? Are they obese because of genetic conditions or due to a lack of proper exercise and movement? Are they poor because of their lack of effort or because things are just not working out for them at the moment? Are they unhappy because of the loss of someone they love and cherish, or are they just innately pessimistic? If they are pessimists, then please don't listen to them, but if they are going through periods of grief or have gone through something like that before, you can rest assured that they can help you better than anyone else. The whys and hows are very important before drawing any concrete conclusions, and I think even though you shouldn't be taking direct advice from them, one can't deny the fact that we all learn from our mistakes, and what better way to grow faster than learning from others mistakes? So whether you want to take their advice or not, all of us can learn from each other's mistakes.
By PanwarP
#446855
Advice should only be taken from those who are knowledgeable about the subject at hand. If those who are sad actually knew how to be happy, they would already be happy and in the category of people I can learn from.
By RJ Reviews
#447006
I will regard this point with a grain of salt. Truly unhappy people, who fails to find happiness or contentment in anything, may not be the best person to advise others. But there are plenty of people who are on their journey towards finding inner peace and happiness. Those people are learning how to realign their thought process and seek happiness in life. I believe that those people, despite not being 'happy' yet, will have valuable advices to share about their journey towards finding peace and contentment. Life, afterall, is about the journey rather than the destination.
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