For most of my life, I’ve taken things as far as I can. It’s taken me a long time to find balance with anything and (almost) everything I do. While it can be frustrating at times, taking things to the limit is a great way to find out any problems they may have, especially problems that would easily be missed by only going part of the way.
Here’s an example. My ideas on the ownership of property have changed dramatically over the past few years. Once I saw some previously unforeseen implications of the views I once held and found them distasteful, in no small part because they conflicted with some of my other values, I started rethinking a lot of things. As a result, I now no longer attempt to follow an arbitrarily chosen idea to its limits in each situation regarding property. One solution can’t adequately resolve to my satisfaction every issue that arises. Sometimes such an approach turns out pleasantly but other times it turns out unpleasantly. My current approach is an attempt to find an answer that brings all of my values together without leaving any by the wayside. Much more difficult than what I did before but well worth the effort.
This process first requires having enough self-awareness to notice what you think. You can then examine why you think as you do about a particular subject and see if your thinking is consistent. If not, you can decide what to do about it. There are at least a few options here. One is to act as if there are no issues. Another is to make exceptions as often as needed, although this can become problematic if taken too far as having more exceptions to the rule than instances of the rule being followed means that the underlying rule is unnecessary. Still another option is to adopt a better, more holistic perspective. While there may be other options I haven’t considered, of the ones mentioned here, I think the third one is the best and it’s what I’ve done whenever possible.
Most people never seem to acquire enough self-awareness to do anything in the previous paragraph. That may be why it’s common to see someone hold completely contradictory views without appearing to realize it; if the inconsistency is pointed out, rather than acknowledging it and changing something, they may ignore it, become upset, or think up a rationalization that attempts to explain away the discrepancy. I’ve done all of those and still catch myself doing one or more of them at times. In a calm state of mind, it’s quite humbling to notice it and noticing it makes me strive to be more thorough in my thinking. Whether or not it’s possible to have total consistency in a way that I find acceptable, I work on getting as close as I can and make sure to have fun along the way.