What I learned from learning nothing

Nick Shepherdson
Jul 24, 2017 · 2 min read

When I started Finding My World View, I had big aspirations. I was going to figure out exactly where I stood on important issues, delve right into the subject matter, and come out with a reinforced belief that I could proudly display and finally feel like I knew what I was talking about.

Then I jumped straight into the election and haven’t posted since.

My absence wasn’t down to the result (which despite what anyone says is still a loss for Labour, although it’s a massive step in the right direction). I just simply didn’t have the motivation for it. I didn’t see what I was getting from it. When I sat down to think about where this came from, I realised that through all of the election stuff, I learned nothing.

I went in a Labour a supporter and came out a Labour supporter. My views on the economy, on immigration, on public services, on benefits, didn’t change, and while I learned some stuff about the pros and cons of certain policies, ultimately I learned nothing of any worth. Worse, I didn’t really entertain anything from the ‘other side’; I didn’t really think too much into the viability of other policies, just what was in front of me and how I felt about them.

Ultimately, it felt like I’d spent the better part of a month doing a lot of reading to very little result. So what have I learned?

For starters, I’ve learned that jumping on current events in the hope of gaining traction provided little in the way of results which can actually do the opposite.

I’ve learned that to do this properly will be a slow process because it needs to be. Any attempt to make it quicker would just hinder the results, like it did when I tried to go through the manifestos and pledges in such a short period of time.

But most importantly, I’ve learned that I still believe this to be necessary; that while one person’s impact is small in the grand scheme of things, it’s still better for that impact to be built on solid reasoning that on biased reporting and politics. Ultimately, that makes all the effort worth it.

I’m going to disappear for a little while again, but this time to plan. What am I going to tackle, how am I going to tackle it, and the questions I have to ask. Then I’m going to get to work.

And for once, I’m looking forward to it.

Finding My World View

One person’s journey to finding what they believe in and why.