Excellent people should have both high sensitivity and strong insensitivity

When you look at this title, don’t you think this is a contradiction? How can one person be highly sensitive and insensitive at the same time? The answer is that the two are fundamentally not contradictory and conform to the law of the unity of opposites.

I would like to explain these two words, "sensitivity" and "insensitivity", using the Buddhist realm of "being immobile and clear."

Sensitivity corresponds to "clearness", while insensitivity corresponds to "immobility".

Being immovable means that the heart will not be moved by the external environment, and will not be affected by anything. It will not be happy in good times, not sad in adversity, and will always have a peaceful mind. Understanding clearly means that the facts and truth of all dharma in the world and beyond the world are clear and clear in the mind.

What is sensitivity? Let us use Andersen's fairy tale "The Princess and the Pea" as an example to understand. The story says that there are three criteria for judging a real princess: first, she must be polite to everyone; second, she cares for both the poor and the rich; third, her skin must be very sensitive. What does it mean to be very sensitive? You put a pea under twenty mattresses, and a real princess can feel the pea's presence while sleeping on the bed. So why do we have to ask the princess to have such sensitive skin? Because the first two standards can be achieved as long as a "good person"; but only the third standard can be achieved by a girl who has been raised wealthy and has a keen sense of the enjoyment of life.

Of course, this story is just an extension. In fact, there is a truth behind it, that is, "sensitivity" can distinguish between high and low people. Of course, it doesn’t necessarily mean skin sensitivity. The sensitivity mentioned here includes sensitivity to various sensations. For example, some people can detect subtle things, but some people cannot. This means they are not sensitive enough. In interpersonal interactions, if a person lacks sensitivity, he will not act appropriately and speak carelessly. He may not even be able to understand other people's cues. He may not be able to understand even a more sophisticated joke you tell. He can be a good person, and he can have great professional skills, but he is still a rough guy at heart.

Everyone may know the book "Insensitive Power". According to the author Junichi Watanabe's own explanation, "Insensitive Power" can be literally translated as "the power of dullness", that is, facing the challenges in life calmly. Frustration and pain, moving firmly in one's own direction, blunt sensitivity is "the means and wisdom to win a better life." "Insensitiveness", as a kind of attitude and life wisdom, is easier to survive in the fiercely competitive, fast-paced and complex modern society than to be radical, flamboyant and rigid. It is also easier to achieve success and at the same time Seek inner balance and harmony with others and society.

Sensitivity is a very important thing in this day and age. Israeli historian Harari proposed a formula in "A Brief History of the Future":

Harari said that in this modern era without religious beliefs, if you want to find the meaning of life, you must have experience. and sensitivity. The meaning of sensitivity here is that you have to gain experience from experience and then use the experience to transform yourself. Through continuous experience, you will develop a deeper understanding of the world and ultimately become a better person.

Sensitivity can be learned. For example, once you do something wrong in life and experience the serious consequences, it is best to use a concept to summarize the matter, so that next time you encounter a similar situation, you will be particularly sensitive and more prepared. Proportionate. The "deliberate practice" we often talk about requires practitioners to be very sensitive to mistakes, know where they are wrong at any time, and preferably feel mental pain.

So when should we be more insensitive? It's also not a good thing if a person is highly sensitive in all aspects, you may be overly sensitive. Some people are very sensitive. If someone just says something casually, they will think it is a hint. If someone else makes a joke casually, they will get angry. In fact, some information does not need to be over-interpreted. This requires us to improve our sensitivity while also learning another skill, which is to strengthen our sensitivity.

Seeing it, feeling it, but pretending not to see it, is an insensitive force.

Not looking at that aspect at all is an act of active ignorance. If you want to have such a blunt sense, you must know what is important and what is not important. We should only be sensitive to important things and remain insensitive to unimportant things.

So what is important and what is not important? It is not important to think about people in life. Thinking about things and thinking is important. Eleanor Roosevelt, wife of President Franklin Roosevelt, famously said: "Great minds talk about ideas, average minds talk about events, and weak minds talk about people." You have to have an idea before you can make something happen. Those who are great are those who can make things happen. These people are proactive and love to talk about ideas. Most people are relatively passive. In most cases, they can only be spectators and discuss things after they happen. There is another kind of person who only focuses on studying how to please the first two types of people.

In addition, the highest level of sensitivity can reach the state of seeing subtle things, but only if we have a strong insensitivity to support it. There is a famous story that Bingji, the Prime Minister of the Western Han Dynasty, saw someone fighting in the street when he went to inspect a place. He pretended not to see it; he saw a cow that seemed to be sick, but he carefully checked the cow's condition. His subordinates asked him why he didn't care about the fight but cared about such a trivial matter as a sick cow? The prime minister said that it was the local officials' business to deal with fights, and it was a trivial matter that the prime minister did not have to deal with. But if the cows got sick, it might mean that the weather was abnormal this year, which was a big deal. From this example, we can see that if you want to be able to see the subtleties and maintain a high sensitivity to the cognition of affairs, then you have to maintain a strong insensitivity to unimportant and sometimes even negative issues. Not everyone can achieve this ability, but it is a real skill worth working hard to improve.

So in the end, we can summarize that there is not only the talent of sharp intelligence that allows us to maintain high sensitivity in the world, but also the strong sensitivity that is not shaken by trivial matters, which is also the most important thing in people's lives. Basic talents. Moreover, an excellent person, a person who wants to make a difference, can only make acumen and sensitivity into real talents by possessing these two abilities at the same time, so as to play their due role on the road of life.