In her song titled Questions, one of my favourite singers, Aṣa asks “Why do people believe things they know aren’t true?”1.
My friend, Derek, has the perfect answer to Aṣa’s question. The short version? Because it’s useful for them.
It helps them do what they need to do, be who they want to be, and feel at peace. Because it’s useful, even if it’s not true.
Stick around if you want the longer version.
Only a very few things in life are inherently, objectively, absolutely and universally true. Your thoughts, memories, views about science and religion most likely aren’t one of those things.
Even history isn’t wholly true, since it reflects only recorded words and events that survives.
The ideas in Derek’s book, Useful not True, are so simple they stick. You shouldn’t ignore them. The book provides a useful lens for seeing the world. With this lens, you start spotting 'useful not true' beliefs and actions at work everywhere.
Once you see them, you can't ‘unsee’ them.
They show up each time you want to make a decision that’s apparently not useful.
They show up when someone close to you says something that they consider useful, even if it’s not entirely accurate.
They show up when you listen to debates, and different points of view. If you love watching people, you’ll find this lens valuable.
Two people can describe the state of the economy and the nation. After listening to the first person, you move on to do things that improve the lives of others based on what you’ve heard. After listening to the other person, you wallow and cry.
Both described what they saw as true. Only one of them told us what was useful. If it doesn’t empower us to move towards better, it probably isn’t useful.
We owe it to ourself to live fully and become better daily. Whatever does not enable this is not useful - even if true.
And yes, I can’t recommend the book enough.
You should listen to it if you haven’t. Aṣa is gorgeous inside out. For some of us, her songs are like worship.