Question Everything (part 1)

I have always tried to live by a certain standard: "Question everything." This stance has raised an eyebrow or two. In fact, even my wife dislikes my "devil's advocate" stances. So I will defend it here.

While reading a FORTUNE magazine article titled The Best Advice I ever got (here) I was reminded of how important and powerful this stance can be. Fortune interviewed titans of their spheres (Warren Buffet, Bill Gates, Tiger Woods, Colin Powell, Eric Schmidt, etc.) to glean wisdom from their experience. One such interviewee was the CEO and Co-Chief Investment Officer of PIMCO, Mohamed El-Erian, a man you would have never heard of unless your into finance. PIMCO runs the worlds largest mutual fund, and a total of $756 billion of assets under management. Basically ... he's a big deal.

The advice El-Erian gave was this:

"We were living in Paris, back when my father was Egypt's ambassador to France. Each day we used to get at least four daily newspapers, from Le Figaro on the right side of the political spectrum to L'Humanité, which was the newspaper of the Communist Party. I remember asking my father, Why do we need four newspapers? He said to me, 'Unless you read different points of view, your mind will eventually close, and you'll become a prisoner to a certain point of view that you'll never question.' … There's a tendency for everyone to operate in a comfort zone and to want to read what is familiar to them. But if you are just used to following one person or one news­paper, you will miss these big shifts."

He applied this advice to understanding the financial markets, but I think we can internalize it in a broader sense. I have known many people in my life that subscribe to only one point of view (or newspaper) and refuse to even consider the merits of another view. Views may come in the form of politics, religious convictions, future financial performance, self-esteem, whatever. If we stay open and aware of all views within that sphere we are more apt to make better, rational judgments and avoid becoming "a prisoner to a certain point of view."