Look at What is Being Said, Not Who is Saying It – Imam Ali

In this article, we talk about the meaning of the quote – “look what is being said” by Imam Ali. This quote can be analysed by thinking about halo effect, managing biases and ensuring that we objectively look at a message. It asks us to pause and think about the information before jumping into conclusions.

Look at What is Being Said, Not Who is Saying It

– Imam Ali

I can summarise this article in 3 key points:

  • Focus on the message: Emphasise the content and substance of what people say.
  • Ignore the speaker’s identity: Avoid being influenced by the reputation or status of the person delivering the message.
  • Encourage objective evaluation: Adopt critical thinking to assess information fairly and form unbiased opinions.

In the sections below, we will discuss the impact of this – The halo effect to become more objective in our decision-making and rational thinking.

Look at What is Being Said, Not Who is Saying It Meaning

The phrase “Look at what is being said, not who is saying it” emphasizes the importance of focusing on the content of a message rather than the identity or status of the speaker. It encourages us to evaluate information based on its merits, relevance, and truthfulness, rather than the person delivering the message.

Look at what is being said, not who is saying it - Imam Ali Abi Talib
Look at what is being said, not who is saying it

Our natural inclination is to assign the halo effect for people who’re saying something i.e. a natural association of good or bad based on the author/speaker. The quote is reminding us to think about the content before assigning value to it based on a speaker. The same applies to advice we receive from people. Just because someone is a popular figure, it doesn’t make them the right person to influence us. This is extremely valuable when we think about role models in our life. We should take extra care while thinking about these role models. Make sure you create a boundary of where they can influence you and not.

This idea of – look what is being said helps us to be more objective and fair. It enables a deeper understanding of the message and avoids biases or prejudices through the halo effect. Ultimately, the quote talks about the significance of critical thinking and being objective in our approach.

Do not look at who is saying it but what they are saying

This is not always the easiest one – to look at life in a completely objective way. In fact, sometimes the very purpose of listening to something being said is because of the person saying it. It depends strongly on our feelings about the person. Very soon, this becomes a blind following of thoughts, even on things where these role models have no expertise. This explains the trap of advertising where we see famous people advertising for things that they don’t even know about.

I think there is something very powerful about active listening. Objectivity says that it is foolish to ignore something just because of the person saying it. Sometimes, we need to gather diverse opinions to make sure that we think objectively.

  • It gives us an opportunity to reassess what our thoughts are. The act of defending our thoughts makes us realise how strongly we feel about them
  • It gives us an opportunity to objectively think about these thoughts and take a better informed decision about them. Although there is a slight negative bias, it atleast is good feedback when people give us a different news than expected.

References:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halo_effect

11 thoughts on “Look at What is Being Said, Not Who is Saying It – Imam Ali”

  1. Pingback: Your World Is Surrounded By Idiots, the challenge is to not be one of them - Inspire99

  2. Thank you Deepali, I think the work place implications are amazing and most relevant because that is something we experience on a regular basis. In our MBA, the first few sessions taught about the ladder of inference where we actually make a few assumptions because of the person saying it than the content. It is a difficult thing to separate the person from the content, but the moment we start doing it consciously, it can make a huge difference in our approach and also our own peace of mind :)

  3. Thank you Jyothi. I believe it is one of the toughest to follow, but it sure can liberate a lot of us and help us start enjoying life at a higher level.

  4. Thank you Savithri, I really like these quotes which make us think and reflect. It is kinda one of the reasons why we started the site, to understand what they can really mean to us and give us more value and return in the end. Happy to hear from you, would love to see and exchange more with you in the coming days :)

  5. Very true Maniparna, I have constantly made that error. I mean it is a very natural thing for us to listen to people we like and push away the ones we don’t have a strong feeling for. It is amazing what we can get if we look at things with sheer objectivity, it can make a huge difference and wake up a critical aspect in us.

  6. Makes sense Vinay….this has very strong implications in a workplace also. You tend to listen to those who you think are in your “team”, else you conveniently ignore even the good ideas coming your way. There is one more dimension to listening. Stick to listening. Do not add “I thought you meant this when you said that”.

  7. Maniparna Sengupta Majumder

    Associating a face with the words can change the meaning sometimes. It often happens in the political arena. It’s not easy to concentrate merely on the words. Quotes like this one point it out clearly that we have so many flawed traits….

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