How popular sayings shape our behaviour

Have you ever stopped to think about the power that seemingly banal phrases have?

‘Money doesn't bring happiness,’ ‘Ignorance is bliss,’ or ‘Don't change a winning team’... These popular sayings are short expressions loaded with implicit morals that transcend generations, cultures, and contexts.

Although they are often funny and used naturally, they are part of our everyday repertoire, exerting a subtle and persistent influence on the way we think, decide and act.

Here, we will see how these phrases help to crystallise pre-fixed – and sometimes unrealistic – ways of thinking and how they reinforce the status quo bias, feeding tendencies towards cognitive inertia.

What are popular sayings and why do they persist over time?

A popular saying, also called a proverb or adage, refers to a simple, short phrase that usually has no known author. It can express a maxim or advice that is passed on informally among people over time.

These phrases stand out because they are easy to remember – concise, with a simple rhythm or structure – and also because they convey ‘popular’ wisdom that appeals to common sense.

Their crucial characteristics:

• Anonymity: we rarely know who ‘invented’ them.

• Generalisation: they speak of things in a broad and almost universal way (‘money does not bring happiness’, ‘good things come to those who wait’, and so on).

• Tacit authority: these sayings usually carry a presumption of wisdom, that is, an implicit concept.

• Cultural stability: they are resistant to time, remaining for generations. This is because they have the power to shape habits and mentalities.

Why do they persist (even though they are flawed)?

This longevity stems from the fact that they work silently and enter the sphere of ‘discourse normalisation.’ They function as pieces of language, acting as ideological cement, reinforcing patterns of thought, which often favour the stability of the status quo.

Let us say that, in this sense, these sayings function as mechanisms for naturalising reality. They convey ideas such as “that's just the way it is”, “there's no point in changing too much”, “what seems bad... always has its reason”.

According to the point of view of ideology and psychopolitics, there are concepts such as the ‘colonisation of the mind,’ in which beliefs and narratives take root so deeply that they are no longer perceived as external impositions and come to be seen as obvious and natural.

In other words, popular sayings help to internalise dominant worldviews, but without shouting them out loud, thus shaping our thresholds of thought.

They also become strong allies of the biases of the status quo, as we come to prefer to maintain what already exists – even if it is incoherent or unfair – rather than risk breaking out of the sphere of ‘normal’.o “normal”.

Change is complex, and when we have a ‘wise’ saying that scolds us for changing (e.g., ‘he who wants everything loses everything,’ ‘a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush’), we become even more stuck in what we don't want.

Well-known sayings and their inherent biases

• “Money does not bring happiness.”

This phrase is so clichéd that it has practically become a moralising mantra.

What many people fail to realise is its underlying meaning, which implicitly criticises the excess of money and the accumulation of wealth, practically advocating moderation.

However, by turning it into an absolute maxim, we create a barrier to broader and legitimate financial ambitions or desires. This leads to a kind of guilt morality – ‘if I want money, I am greedy’.

When internalised, this saying can block possible constructive attitudes, such as investing and seeking financial freedom.

Another bias of this phrase is that it absolves social structures. For if ‘money does not bring happiness,’ then there is no need to demand equality policies or denounce conditions of injustice. These complaints become futile.

In this way, we continue not to question who framed the idea of ‘happiness’ as something that should not come from conscious intervention in one's own situation, so that we do not have to go through financial problems based on beliefs that act as ‘crutches’ to prevent us from growing in this sphere.

• “Ignorance is bliss.”

This saying is so harmful that it even earned its own article (to read or listen to it, click here), precisely because it promotes the idea that knowing too much is painful and that, therefore, it would be better to remain in the dark.

Behind its innocent façade, it encourages us to remain in the zone of conformity. When we “don't want to know too much”, we avoid questioning our beliefs, the status quo and the structures that surround us. It serves as a wise excuse for intellectual apathy.

In the hands of authoritarian regimes, power cults, and systems that seek to maintain domination, this phrase becomes pure gold. Those who question become ‘troublemakers’ who ‘challenge the ruling authority.’ Those who question nothing are rewarded with promises of improvements, lower taxes, security, better wages...

Thus, once again, we become easy prey, as we accept the idea that ‘it is better not to know,’ replicated by this and other sayings, by ‘popular culture’ and by inflammatory speeches that tell us that questioning brings unhappiness. Long live ignorance.

• “Do not change a winning team.”

Here we have the mantra of those who love immobility. If something works, even if only slightly, it is better not to change it; take a chance on what already exists, do not innovate.

It is the core of cognitive inertia; our mind prefers to keep what has already been proven in the past rather than change something. In this way, this saying legitimises stagnation.

If we are doing well, it is better not to innovate. If our relationships are stable, it is better to leave them as they are, even if there are visible cracks. If our company is doing well, it is better not to try to improve it further...

This saying opposes the ideas of adaptation and change – two vital components for all forms of growth and evolution. It is a magnet for mediocrity disguised as wisdom. And, to top it off, it encourages narratives of ‘he who meddles with something spoils it.’ In other words, it is better to leave everything as it is, regardless of anything else.

Other popular sayings, extremely common, that carry huge doses of bias

• “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.”

This prioritises security – even if illusory – over potential.

• “Good things come to those who wait.”

The greatest cultivator of the idea of resignation disguised as infinite patience.

• “What's done is done.”

It guides us to want to erase the past, often suppressing it instead of reframing it.

By transforming ‘popular wisdom’ into internal dogmas, we open the way for limiting and deterministic beliefs such as: ‘that's just the way it is,’ ‘maybe it's better not to insist,’ ‘those who are born poor will die poor,’ ‘those who are born to be supporting actors will be supporting actors’...

Language and thought: the two-way street

Now, we will briefly delve into the philosophical and psychological realms.

Do we think through languages, or do languages think for us?

Let's say it's a little bit of both, and that is precisely why popular sayings become internal moulds.

Whorf's hypothesis and linguistic determinism

Back in the 20th century, the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis suggested that the language we speak directly shapes our thinking – even limiting us.

Even though this strong version of determinism is not accepted today, there is a consensus that language strongly influences our perception of the world.

For example:

If our language emphasises certain distinctions such as time, gender and hierarchy, we tend to see the world through this lens.

In the case of popular sayings, inserting ‘wisdom’ and ‘moral lessons’ into linguistic structures reinforces the idea that certain interpretations are obvious and natural – even if they are not.

By repeating these sayings, our minds internalise patterns. As in the case of “don't change a winning team”, immobility is valued as a good principle, a good practice (even if it is not).

Language shapes our field of cognitive possibilities.

Reciprocal cognitive moulding

Our beliefs (limiting or not), learning and culture shape our use of language. We think about speaking and speak about thinking, a two-way street.

When we internalise sayings, they do not remain “outside” our thoughts – there is no such thing as speaking without meaning. Therefore, the repetition of these sayings forms patterns of judgement in which we filter our choices through them, and this feeds back into the saying itself.

Example:

1. Someone thinks: “I want to improve my life”.

2. An opportunity arises in which they can take a risk.

3. The saying echoes in their mind: ‘He who wants everything loses everything,’ or ‘Don't change a winning team.’

4. The person backs down, justifying themselves with ‘popular wisdom.’

5. This refusal reinforces the saying.

This is the cycle of mutual reinforcement between thought and language.

The Metaphor of Software Today

Imagine that your mind is like a computer, and popular sayings are part of the software running on it, something everyday, basic and invisible.

These sayings, as part of the operating system, work in the background, running automatic evaluation routines, for example: ‘is this worth it?’, ‘is this risky?’, ‘does this go against wisdom?’, ‘is this too ambitious?’ ...

We rarely see them; they are like invisible quick-choice applications.

To change them, you often need to ‘enter the system,’ locate them, question the software that is installed, and finally edit it.

Beliefs and narratives: the world seen through crystallised lenses

Here, philosophy, psychology and social criticism intersect.

Our beliefs guide our actions, and sayings, in turn, help to crystallise them.

Deterministic and illusory beliefs

Many of the sayings we use imply that the world is something fixed and unchangeable, that destinies are already mapped out and that our limitations are natural and inevitable.

Phrases such as ‘every monkey on its own branch’ or ‘those born poor will always be poor’ operate as camouflaged determinism.

These narratives make us believe that if ‘it's normal,’ there's no point in fighting; if ‘that's the way it is,’ then there's no point in changing; if ‘up there’ is for the few, then I'll just accept it and not look for ways to get there too.

“Us versus them” narratives and the illusion of superiority

Another curious effect of many of these phrases is the ‘help’ they provide in structuring narratives of identity – “we” who understand the true sayings vs. ‘they’ who do not.

There is a certain tone of arrogance in believing that ‘I understand saying X well, you don't,’ as if we were above the crowd. This idea validates a view that ‘we are special,’ that we can judge the perspective of others as being inferior, backward, deceitful, invalid...

These narratives fuel artificial and manipulated polarisation, such as: ‘we’ think correctly, “they” are ignorant and barbaric. In this way, it legitimises the contempt, exclusion, cancellation and victimisation of those who think ‘I am different’.

The prison of a passive mind

Uninformed people, lacking critical thinking or curiosity, become easy prey for these narratives and often do not realise that they are being moulded; after all, everything seems “normal” and “natural”.

By learning to give ready-made answers instead of questioning ‘why does this saying exist?’ or ‘who benefits from this type of thinking?’, we become prisoners of the implicit consensus. Something that, for those who want to maintain narrative control, is more valuable than pure gold.

The status quo: the culture of comfort in the familiar and the phobia of the new

The human brain and functional laziness

Our brain is an expert in energy conservation; it does not like to waste energy. That is why it loves patterns, routines, phrases, and ready-made responses.

Obviously, in this scenario, popular sayings are the epitome of this cognitive efficiency.

When we hear a proverb such as ‘Ignorance is bliss,’ our mind feels relieved: ‘Ah, great, I don't need to think about that anymore.’ A perfect mental shortcut, a ‘solve without thinking’ button.

But anyone who thinks that this comfort comes without a price is mistaken. The bill comes in the form of stagnation. When the mind settles into these shortcuts, it loses its flexibility. The new scares us because it requires mental work, and the old calms us because it sounds familiar.

The energy savings provided by sayings and ready-made answers are, paradoxically, a zone of intellectual imprisonment.

This is the same psychological mechanism that makes us resist re-educating ourselves about how we eat, changing jobs or careers, and listening to opinions and ideas contrary to our own.

Our mind prefers known pain to uncertain pleasure. And worse, it even uses sayings as moral justifications for our cowardice.

Fear in the guise of wisdom

Saying ‘don't fix what isn't broken’ is, in many cases, just another elegant way of saying ‘I'm afraid of making mistakes.’ In this context, the saying acts as a moral shield that defends us from our own vulnerability.

It would be the same as saying ‘ignorance is bliss,’ another excuse coated in wisdom, but which ultimately hides the fear of frustration and of having to face the depth of life.

We live repeating phrases and ready-made answers as if they were amulets. Each saying is like a talisman against our uncertainty. However, by shielding ourselves, we fail to experience the world as it is and begin to live in realities shaped by fossilised expressions.

The cultural perpetuation of inertia

Culturally speaking, we are trained to confuse conservation and tradition with wisdom. Certain sayings that extol resignation and mediocrity are seen as virtues, while boldness and experimentation are treated as recklessness and rebellion.

That is why so many innovations are born outside the mainstream. For within the larger system, there will always be those who are seen as mistakes – and it is usually these mistakes that drive evolution.

Language as a tool for control and conformity

Words are not neutral

Every language carries its own ideology. When someone says, ‘it's just a saying,’ they are disregarding the fact that every expression is a miniature of collective thought.

Words are mental moulds; they tell us what is acceptable, what is absurd, what is moral, what is good, what is bad... That is why those who master language master the imagination.

Sayings such as ‘God helps those who rise early’ reinforce an ethic of productivity, while ‘Silence is golden’ encourages obedience. Neither is neutral; they are cultural tools for behavioural control disguised as harmless advice.

The power of invisible discourse

Michel Foucault, in his studies on discourse and power, said that the most effective forms of power are those that do not impose themselves, but those that infiltrate. This subtle power is what makes us obey without realising it.

In this sense, popular sayings are perfect instruments, acting on our unconscious and defining what is ‘natural,’ ‘correct,’ “good” or ‘bad.’

When someone says ‘it's always been this way,’ they are actually just repeating another old invisible saying.

Culture programmes us to repeat formulas that we call tradition.

Sayings and social hierarchies

There is also another social dimension to sayings, in that they not only shape individual thoughts, but also sustain collective structures.

For example, phrases such as ‘everyone in their place’ reinforce hierarchies – you stay in your place, without questioning that of others, especially if they have more money and power than you.

The phrase ‘those born poor will never be rich’ acts as a social anaesthetic, deactivating indignation and keeping the system intact.

Meanwhile, empowering phrases such as ‘the sky's the limit’ sound like ‘coach talk’, precisely because traditional popular language has conditioned us to ridicule those who think differently.

Ultimately, we are prisoners of words that pretend to protect us.

The irony of popular wisdom

“He who laughs last laughs best” – is that so?

This saying is almost a promise of revenge disguised as patience. It transforms waiting into strategy and resentment into virtue.

It would be funny – if it weren't tragic – how ‘popular wisdom’ justifies our little neuroses. Because, deep down, it's just our ego screaming: ‘It doesn't matter if I lose now, as long as one day someone sees me win.’

Well, the kind of wisdom that creates eternally competitive adults, unable to deal with defeat without a narrative of revenge.

The satire of false humility

Another example is “Those who bend over too far show their backsides”.

This gem is pure cultural sarcasm, condemning both exaggerated humility and submission. But, curiously, it is used in contexts that glorify cleverness and arrogance.

All ‘folk wisdom’ seems to teach us not to trust too much, to laugh at the naive, and to distrust the kind.

A culture of irony disguised as prudence.

Moralism wearing the mask of advice

In almost every saying there is an implicit moral: be moderate, don't dream too much, don't question, accept things as they are...

The irony of this is that this ‘wise’ advice is often the poison that keeps ‘the world turning slowly’.

Perhaps the true ‘popular sage’ was the one who said, ‘if you don't take risks, you don't evolve’... But this saying didn't catch on, because it's too much work.

The duality between security and freedom

The comfort of limiting beliefs and the price of freedom

Deep down, our minds fear freedom. It is easier to believe in a ready-made saying than to face the vastness of uncertainty.

Ready-made phrases and answers protect us from turmoil and confusion, like a broken wooden fence protects a field.

So we carry on: safe, but limited. Happy, but numb. Aware, but ignorant by choice.

The paradox is that, in seeking security, we sacrifice our lucidity – and still call it wisdom.

The false comfort of ready-made answers

We believe in sayings because we want simple answers to complex dilemmas. The mental version of ‘zombie mode’, the refusal to deal with contrast, nuance, with ‘it depends’, with ‘maybe’.

The world cannot be summed up in short phrases, and those who reduce it to one live a shallow version of reality.

Freedom as discomfort

Thinking coherently and independently requires action. Questioning dictates, traditions, and inherited absolute truths is like changing your life.

Intellectual freedom requires deconstruction, often losing references. And perhaps that is why many of us prefer to stick with proverbs; they can even give a sense of firmness and solidity, even if these are just quicksand covered by a Persian carpet.

The illusion of “us versus them”

The trap of separatist narratives

We live in an era where each group believes itself to be the great guardian of truth. And, curiously, this logic is as old as the world itself, precisely because it is sustained by a series of sayings and narratives that reinforce symbolic boundaries.

‘Tell me who you walk with and I'll tell you who you are.’ It sounds wise, but it is also a sophisticated form of social discrimination disguised as prudent advice. The old culture of quick judgement and silent exclusion.

The issue is not the phrase itself, but rather the way it is used. The saying creates a cognitive filter; we begin to judge others by association while ignoring their essence. And to make matters worse, we believe we are being ‘smart’ by doing so.

This mentality feeds the ‘us versus them’ narrative, in which we are the conscious, the ethical, the ‘good,’ while they are the ignorant, the liars, the corrupt, the bad...

The collective theatre in which sayings and ‘true’ narratives are the script that teaches and indoctrinates us to play our role with conviction.

The arrogance of ‘I know what's right’

There is a bitter irony in believing that simply knowing a few sayings makes us wise.

After all, who has never used a proverb to end an argument? It is the typical coup de grâce of the ego: ‘as the saying goes...’

That's it. There is nothing more to argue about. The conversation dies under the weight of popular wisdom.

This attitude further reinforces the myth that experience is synonymous with truth. But experience without reflection and questioning is just another repetition, a mere automatism.

And repeating without understanding is exactly what keeps thinking stagnant. Popular knowledge becomes dogma, and dogma kills dialogue.

The consequences of tribalisation

When an individual anchors themselves in rigid sayings, beliefs, and dogmas, they build their identity based on the group and not on their own conscience.

The ‘we’ becomes more valuable than the ‘I.’ This may even be comforting, but it is also the cradle where fanaticism lies.

The belief that ‘only my group knows and understands the truth and the world’ is the beginning of intolerance. And the curious thing is that the same sayings that should teach about unity (‘unity is strength,’ for example) end up being used as weapons of separation.

Language is treacherous; it can heal or hurt, elevate or belittle, all depending on who uses it.

Sayings as mirrors of collective morals

The moral of ‘common sense’

Let's say that popular moral ideas are the ground where sayings flourish. These function as manuals for collective behaviour, teaching what is decent, prudent, acceptable – and, nowadays, enjoyable.

• ‘He who lives by the sword dies by the sword’ – here we have karma translated into Portuguese.

• ‘He who wants too much has nothing’ – a criticism of ambition.

• ‘God helps those who get up early’ – the glorification of the regime preached by the corporate world.

Phrases that are seemingly harmless, but which hide an important detail: popular morality rarely invites us to critical reflection.

It imposes rules of conduct based on experiences that are said to be ancient, generalised and, often, completely outdated and limiting.

The world changes, but sayings do not. And so, many of them end up becoming ethical crutches that justify behaviours that no longer make any sense.

Punitive morality

Most sayings have a punitive bias, teaching us – or indoctrinating us – through fear.

If you do X, Y will happen.

‘If you play with fire, you'll wet the bed’ – the old pedagogy of punishment.

Thus, children learn early on that curiosity is dangerous, and adults grow up believing that questioning the established order, tradition, dogma... is risky.

The result? A society made up of conformists who fear mistakes more than they desire success.

“Common sense” as a tool for social control

Let us say that ‘common sense’ is the most efficient form of cultural censorship. No one needs to impose consistent laws if people sincerely believe that ‘it is better not to change anything.’

Popular proverbs also function as an unwritten constitution of collective mediocrity, like a set of commandments that regulate and control without governing and discipline without punishing.

And the most interesting thing is that it is the dominated themselves who reproduce the discourse of the dominator, believing themselves to be wise.

The paradox of consciously chosen ignorance

“Knowing too much is harmful” – a comfortable self-delusion

There is an almost poetic charm to phrases such as ‘ignorance is bliss.’

Let's say it portrays an honest confession from those who prefer illusory mental stagnation to an expansion of consciousness.

However, as is to be expected, this ideology has its cost, which is the development of harmful and prolonged naivety.

Those who use this phrase with pride and see it as a virtue are not only uninformed, they are also immune to learning.

This type of ‘blessing’ is not divine, it is strategic. It keeps the individual meek, tamed and without any desire to change for the better.

The critical mind seen as a social threat

People who question popular sayings, beliefs, dogmas, traditions... are often seen as ‘intellectual snobs’, ‘complicated’, “contrary”, ‘rebels without a cause’, ‘black sheep’...

Society, in general, does not like those who question, analyse and criticise imposed narratives and information. Much of this information is so simplistic that, precisely because of this, it is adopted and repeated as universal truths.

However, excessive simplicity often becomes poison for abstract thinking.

It transforms the complexity and diversity of world perceptions into slogans, and these slogans into dogmas.

Questioning is an ethical act, and sayings, for the most part, are the trenches where lazy and stagnant thinking hides.

The irony of the idea of awakening

Do you know what happens when you realise how much you have been influenced and shaped by ready-made phrases and responses?

The first reaction is laughter, the kind of nervous, even bitter laughter.

Then comes a feeling of emptiness.

This feeling comes because realising your own domestication hurts and revolts you.

But that's where things get interesting: you start to think for yourself, your mind makes this move along with you. It seems as if it is trying to compensate you for the time you spent dormant.

The number of new forms and different perspectives fills our thoughts with a new feeling, euphoria at realising everything we can improve and explore.

Perhaps this is indeed the miracle that so many desire, the awareness that takes the place left by ignorance.

The role of self-knowledge in deconstructing popular beliefs

Self-questioning

Subjugating the power of popular sayings and beliefs in our lives does not mean disregarding the forms of wisdom they may contain. It means separating what is, in fact, wisdom from what is merely laziness and mental conformity.

The first step in doing this would be to ask yourself:

• ‘Where does this phrase come from?’

• ‘When and from whom did I hear it?’

• ‘Does this phrase serve me, or is it limiting me?’

A deeper and more critical view acts as a natural antidote to cultural manipulation. Questioning is the hammer that breaks the colourful stained glass windows of illusions.

Language as a tool for liberation

If language shapes thought and thought shapes language, then changing language also means changing thought.

Creating new sayings, new metaphors, new narratives, new ways of expressing them – this is a practical and simple exercise in editing ingrained cultural mental software.

We can start by saying:

• ‘Those who dare, grow.’

• ‘Those who make mistakes, learn.’

• ‘On a winning team, you innovate.’

Simple, direct, revolutionary.

The importance of doubt

Contrary to what we have been taught, doubt is the beginning of all real and practical wisdom.

There is no such thing as cynical doubt, but rather curiosity that is not satisfied with what appears to be obvious.

Doubt is the antidote to deterministic dogmas, and dogmas are the driving force behind limiting sayings.

Those who doubt, think. Those who think, change.

And those who change inevitably create new perspectives and possible worlds.

The psychology of sayings: how they tame us without us realising it

The power of repetition

We are beings who learn through repetition. Therefore, the human mind is also shaped by this repetition.

What we hear a thousand times becomes a ‘truth,’ not because this ‘truth’ is logical and applicable, but because it becomes familiar.

Sayings act in this way, as if they were cultural mantras. They are repeated from childhood and attach themselves like parasites to our emotional memories.

The curious thing about this is that, after a certain amount of time, we no longer remember who taught us to repeat them, we just feel that they are ‘true.’

Neuroscience calls this the cognitive familiarity effect – the more something is repeated, the more true it seems to us.

Thus, a saying such as “a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush” comes to be used almost as an automatic instinct. Our brain uses it as a mental shortcut to avoid risks.

Deep down, this is just cognitive laziness disguised as prudence.

The pleasure of conformity

Following ‘common sense’ gives us pleasure, literally speaking. When our opinions coincide with those of the group, our brain releases dopamine.

That is why repeating a popular saying, dogma or belief makes us feel like we ‘belong.’ This feeling of belonging is the verbal equivalent of a collective hug.

The price of this? Our intellectual autonomy.

Popular sayings, limiting beliefs, and dogmas may, to a certain extent, be tools used for social cohesion, but they are also a form of collective self-deception.

When we say ‘ignorance is bliss,’ we reassure ourselves in the face of what we do not want to see, even if they are traumas, memories, and emotional triggers that we could have already healed in ourselves.

In a perverse way, we find relief in the limitations we create for ourselves—we console ourselves by saying, ‘it's not worth trying to change, after all, everyone thinks that way.’

The pedagogy of obedience

An overwhelming number of limiting beliefs, popular sayings, and dogmas are taught to children during the most important stage of cognitive development (including in school environments). This explains the formative and lasting power that these ideas have.

This information teaches obedience (often blind), restraint and repression of feelings and attitudes, excessive caution...

‘Silence means consent,’ ‘Those who can command, those who have sense obey,’ ‘Now is not the time to ask questions,’ ‘Because that's the way it is,’ ‘Everyone does it this way,’ ‘Why aren't you like so-and-so's child’...

These phrases act as small injections of hierarchy into the child's mind.

It is no wonder that many of us grow up believing that questioning authority is disrespectful, rather than exercising our thinking.

All of this tames us from an early age, so that adulthood seems more like a script that has already been written.

The irony in this is that, by believing we are being prudent and respectful, we are actually just following a cultural script of obedience that has been sold to us as wisdom.

Proverbs and the future: between ruin and wisdom

Digital world

In the digital age, sayings have simply changed their appearance.

Now, they appear in the form of memes, posts, “self-help” phrases on social media and even marketing slogans.

However, their essence remains the same: simplifying the complex, superficialising the profound, providing ready-made answers that avoid reflection and questioning.

Today, instead of ‘don't change a winning team,’ we hear ‘don't change what's working.’

Instead of ‘ignorance is bliss,’ we read ‘the less information, the less anxiety.’

The forms change, the content remains.

Popular psychology has been recycled into instant digital wisdom – something easy to consume, easy to forget and difficult to digest.

The superficiality of language

We live in an age where short, shallow phrases go viral, and deep thoughts tire us.

The digital mind wants slogans, not arguments. It wants certainties, not doubts.

Thus, the new sayings of the modern era – “be your best self”, “you are your own limit” – are just optimised versions of the old ones. They may be different in aesthetics, but they are identical in effect.

They produce the illusion of depth without requiring real, practical depth.

It is the ‘fast food’ of thought: beautiful in the photo, quick to consume, but heavy on the stomach and empty of nutrients.

The irony here is that people share these sayings with pride, firmly believing that they are spreading seeds of wisdom.

One of the possible futures

Don't they say that ‘hope is the last thing to die’? Well, by using hope as eternal expectation, we can see changes emerging on the horizon.

The same technology that today spreads ready-made phrases and answers, limiting beliefs and illusory dogmas can also generate awareness.

The internet allows for the confrontation of ideas, the clash of languages, and the multiplicity of views and perspectives on life. Thus, by using this plurality with responsibility, maturity, and respect, we can learn to identify and question all those limiting ideas and narratives that place us as inferior and easily manipulated.

The future may not be to eliminate sayings and dogmas, but rather to ‘reprogram’ them.

We can transform ‘good things come to those who wait’ into ‘those who act, achieve.’

Replacing ‘money does not bring happiness’ with ‘money provides us with more choices and time – and time is the ground where happiness flourishes.’

Wisdom questioned

Popular sayings, like beliefs, dogmas, and ready-made, memorised responses, are like cultural tattoos. They are visible and invisible marks, inherited and unquestioned.

These ideas have been condensed over centuries of human experience, but they have also been subject to fears and illusions.

They carry the most beautiful aspects of language through their capacity for synthesis, but also the most dangerous aspects, their ability to freeze abstract, critical and analytical thinking.

Questioning one of these ideas is an act of symbolic disobedience or rebellion. It is when we remove the mould from common sense and look at the world with new interpretations.

And this is not to despise the past, but to understand that true wisdom is that which evolves over time.

‘The thinking mind does not rot.’

Summary

Proverbs are old sayings that people have repeated for a long time to give advice of dubious morality. But sometimes these sayings make us believe things that are not true.

When we repeat them without thinking, it is as if we are letting other people decide our lives for us. That is why it is always best to think for ourselves, even if it takes some effort.

Because those who think for themselves discover the real world.

My view without sparing other people's ears

Most people, myself included for a while, live like parrots, repeating what they hear without really understanding what they are saying. And often, they still think they are being wise.

Sayings, beliefs, paradigms, and limiting dogmas are like intellectual crutches, which help you walk but prevent you from running.

As long as we believe that ‘it has always been this way, so it must be right,’ we will remain stuck in the past while calling it wisdom.

Living based on automatic ideas is not living, it is surviving. It would be interesting if we began to distrust even our own inner voice, because even this is sometimes nothing more than an old and outdated saying disguised as conscience and rationality.

An ending that, if you want, can be a new beginning

If this content made you think – or laugh nervously – if it contributed to you in any way, how about treating us to a coffee?

Here, at the Buy UN4RT a Coffee link, you can do just that. There you will find more content, membership plans and more.

And if you also want to access more content like this, as well as other uncensored content, visit our UN4RT page. Our backstage of information, products, and services disclosed explicitly, without sugarcoating or fine print. See you there!

“The illusion crumbles when we question reality.” – UN4RT

Sources and references:

• Daniel Kahneman, Thinking, Fast and Slow.

• Michel Foucault, The Order of Discourse.

• Pierre Bourdieu, Symbolic Power.

• Research on popular sayings and status quo biases.

• Dialnet, Colonización de la mente y discurso ideológico.

• George Lakoff and Mark Johnson, Metaphors We Live By.

• Present: access password to our backstage UN4RT: m3mb3r@UN4RTifici4l