Deliberate Naïvety
I increasingly find myself referring to a misremembered story dating back to the Cold War. The story goes, at least in my rendition, as follows.
The Soviets had spread propaganda that they developed technology that far exceeded the capabilities of the United States of America. Depending on the context in which this anecdote comes up, the technology mentioned differs - be it bombs of unbelievable efficiency, fighter jets with stealth capabilities or range double what was previously possible, or spy satellites that could image an individual from space. The US decides to set its scientists on recreating these feats - the Russians were likely bluffing, but in the off-chance the propaganda held any water, the US needed to be able to at least come close to matching their capabilities, even with a delay of a few months or years.
Spurred by the belief that these achievements were not only possible, but had already been accomplished elsewhere, the US scientists worried less about whether it was possible to create such machines, and more about how one could create them. Ultimately this led to the researchers matching or exceeding the advertised Soviet capabilities. When the news reached the USSR - its administration was shocked - they indeed were bluffing and now their bluff was not only called but met with a royal flush.
I often found and continue to find myself believing the metaphorical Soviets. They take many forms: friends, colleagues, online personas. All boast about achievements, balanced lifestyles, high salaries. I would listen to these tales and rather than feel jealousy would experience something akin to awe - if they can have it all, why can’t I? As I grew up, I realised that most of these people, in fact, were not telling the truth. Whether it was a decorated life through an Instagram lens that left out their very boring day-to-day, or expected earnings that never manifested, or at times - straight up fibs.
Fortunately, I had realised this too late and I had already made concrete in my mind that one can really have it all. Even having come to this conclusion about others, I refused to internalise it. I chose to be deliberately naïve, for there are times when things don’t go to plan. When the future doesn’t seem as bright as it had done just minutes before. At times like that, I feel that it helps to listen to tales of others - how one overcame all adversity despite the odds and emerged victorious - and genuinely believe them.
I have been made a fool a couple of times with this approach. That said, to quote a school friend of mine, those times were worth it even if for nothing but the “information value” that the experiences carried.