Accurate Information from an ill-intentioned person is still accurate information
The source does not matter as much as we think it does.
Seneca, an ancient Roman philosopher, wasn’t afraid to quote a bad writer with a good idea. Whilst Seneca was a known Stoic, he is said to have written and quoted Epicurus in various works of his. To those who study philosophy, this is strange, as Stoicism and Epicureanism are on opposite scales. Stoics were usually very critical of the work of Epicureans.
However, Seneca was wise enough to understand that one can disagree whilst still being able to see valid points and accept them. It doesn’t matter if you don’t like the messenger, sometimes the message is worth listening to.
This is something that I think we, as a society, can get better at. We tend to pay more attention to a person’s status rather than what they’re saying. We listen to people who we believe are high status than us, and ignore or look down at those that we believe are of lower status than us.
Even a fool can have a powerful message, whereas an educated person may be misinformed at times. This is something that I am continuously trying to get better at. I want to be able to step back and listen without judgement, process the information and assess whether it is useful or not, rather than just throwing it away because it came from a source that I don’t like or respect.
If there is merit in the information being put across, then certainly it will help me, and so I should listen to it. I should apply it when applicable. However, if the information is not useful, then I can always ignore it.
“The message is more important than the messenger. Accurate information from an ill-intentioned person is still accurate information!”
