Be warned by another's woe

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Each Thursday I select a Viking quote randomly or based upon relevance or meaning to my life at that point in time. Despite these phrases being over a thousand years old I believe most can still offer value in modern society and I find it interesting to ponder, weigh and measure them. _{original im src}

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This week's Viking quote

Be warned by another's woe - Njal's Saga

I can't put a definitive number on the mistakes I've made; Many is the best way to describe it; some have been very small with no negative impact and others have affected me in profound ways. I've occasionally repeated some of my mistakes, much to my shame, and some have snapped me into line in the most brutal of ways. Generally though, I've learned from them all.

This Viking quote is a simple one with a very plain and clear message: Learn from the errors and mistakes others make to avoid making the same mistakes yourself.

I could end the post here however want to expand just a little so will continue.

You see humans, as a species, tend to be very slow to learn from other people's mistakes and therefore repeat them over and over. It's a conundrum really; we're so intelligent, have cognitive thought, the ability to reason and think things through, and the ability to record and recover events and happenings providing a library of experiences and yet here we are, making the very same mistakes we've made hundreds and thousands of years before.

Is it just me, or does that seem strange?

I'm of the opinion that greed, hubris, and pride are largely to blame for the reoccurrence of many of those mistakes and, these days, we can probably add in the fear of missing out to the list. Humans have a voracious appetite for things. Stuff. No matter whether it's a billion-dollar yacht, Gulfstream jet, a new phone, pair of shoes or another countries' natural resources, we drive at it without care for the consequences; or maybe we just ignore them, blinded by the desire for those things.

So, we put ourselves into crippling financial debt, invade our neighbours, kill or harm each other physically or emotionally, disfigure our bodies and faces to look better, hate and fear one other and generally act in a rather reprehensible way; par for the course for humanity.

History holds many examples of this behaviour.

The Holocaust for instance, most wars, political machinations that have ended in turmoil, homelessness, food shortages, civil unrest, pain and suffering through botched cosmetic surgeries, the propaganda machine that pushes agendas based on greed and hubris, discrimination, racial hatred, environmental changes, unemployment and so on...There's so many examples demonstrating the futility of the actions leading to these things and perpetuating them, but we continue to do it=. Any change is slow...but I see no real change.

Take the phrase, world peace for instance. It's delusional! Seriously, world peace? We've been arguing, fighting, and killing each other for ten thousand years and nope, no world peace yet. And what have we gained? More land, more oil, more diamonds, more weapons, more shoes, and iPhones...Less peace.

OK, I'm on the verge of a rant here. Sorry. Let's get back to the individual; you and me.

We have a wealth of knowledge and understanding at our fingertips and the ability to find out virtually anything we wish to know.

We can read about the experiences of those who came before us and learn from the wisdom they gained along their journey. Dissecting events from the past, the reasons people did what they did, the success, failure and consequences of those actions, is completely within our power; can I ask why then do we make the same mistakes? Is it stupidity, stubbornness or just because that's how we learn? Although, clearly we don't learn do we? I don't know the answers, I'm not that smart.

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This thousand year-old Viking quote suggests that the answers to the future can be found in the past and through other people's experiences. It's not always the case of course however much of the time we can delve into the past and learn through other people's experiences to help plot a path towards a more advantageous future. I still make mistakes though, no one is perfect.

In the comments below, please feel free to disagree with my interpretation and add your own if you like, tell a story around this quote or general topic or simply react to it and let me know what you think, how you see it, how it relates to you or someone you know.

Skol.