Solomon’s Paradox: Do You Really Take Your Own Advice?
The psychological science behind “wise reasoning”!
Solomon’s paradox describes a relatively ubiquitous psychological phenomenon: your friend approaches you for advice on a pressing problem; you give her great advice and she is very thankful for your wisdom.
Later on, you are faced with a similar problem yourself. However, in this case, you make a poor decision based on poor reasoning. In other words, Solomon’s paradox describes how people tend to be wiser when solving other’s problems than their own.
In this essay, we will begin by covering the origins of Solomon’s paradox. Following this, we will touch upon some psychological research work related to this paradox. Finally, we will explore how we can benefit from our knowledge of this paradox. Let us begin.
Why is Solomon’s Paradox Called So?
King Solomon was the third ruler of the Jewish Kingdom. He possessed such wisdom that people travelled far and wide to seek his advice. He had solved numerous tricky problems by displaying impressive wit.
Yet, when it came to his personal life, he repeatedly made poor decisions that eventually led to his kingdom’s downfall. How is it that King Solomon was a paragon of wisdom to…
