In the Marx Brothers movie Duck Soup, there is a famous scene where the president of Freedonia, played by Groucho Marx, talks himself into believing that the foreign ambassador is going to refuse to shake his hand. Naturally, when the ambassador walks in, Groucho slaps him in the face.
It’s an absurd scene, and it’s also very incisive. Many times we believe we know the intentions of others, and we behave accordingly.
This almost always has consequences in our relationships. If we believe someone is avoiding us on purpose, then we might start to act awkwardly around them, and soon enough they might start avoiding us, even if they weren’t previously.
We can never know others’ intentions perfectly, and so it makes sense to assume that there are things we do not know.

(Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought – Second Guessing: Episode 446)

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