Be Consistent And Lead By Example

Being consistent can be thought of as a personality trait, a position on a particular issue or a property of reasoning. It is proven that aligning our thoughts and life experiences is a positive reserve for our psychological health.

Nowadays, public figures are often heard making statements about leading by example, with the compliments that follow. Social networks have dramatically fueled the materialization or externalization of values ​​that are, by their very nature, invisible.

However, the materialization of morally rewarded conduct can disguise itself under a repertoire of values ​​or other behaviors that may be unethical. For example, donating money to poorer sections of the population can be a good deed. However, this donation can be questioned if the money is the result of unethical activities (e.g. drug trafficking).

The importance of contextualization

In light of the above, the question should be reformulated: what is example? Is it something that depends on a concrete action, an external evaluation or a pre-established action? By having more resources to lead by example, is the lead by example more of an example? The answer is no. Leading by example should have more to do with the primal meaning of coherence.

According to the idioms collected by the Dictionary of idioms of the Italian language, Hoepli edition, giving the example means “doing what you would like others to do”, while the expression do by example – which probably derives from a similarity between the verbs to give and to do – does not seem to be contemplated in the corpus of our language.

On the other hand, the word coherence derives etymologically from the Latin coaherentia , which means inner link and indicates the quality of what presents an internal and global link or relationship of the different parts between them.

This definition highlights the inner nuance as indispensable in its conceptualization. However, “leading by example” seems to give greater prominence to the external component, which is conduct, as if it were a necessary or sufficient condition.

A behavior or a repertoire of “exemplary” behaviors does not determine coherence, since the cognitive component – as the reference point for accepting ethical values ​​- is an indispensable condition.

Consistency can be assessed through the relationship that our own experiences or history maintain with our thoughts and decisions. Due to its character, it relates entirely or globally to Aristotle’s phrase, subsequently taken up by Gestalt psychology, The whole is more than the sum of its parts.

The truth is to be consistent

This difference of nuances in the concept of coherence tends to be forgotten in everyday language, since both meanings are used indiscriminately. This also happened in the philosophy studies of the Coherence Theory . According to Rescher, this theory has historically not been a monolithic doctrine, but has manifested itself in significantly distinct forms.

The theory of truth as coherence was studied by the famous Vienna Circle, resulting in a conventionalist approach. This theory has received criticism due to the circular thinking behind it, which questions what it really means to be consistent.

The criticisms of this theory were given birth by the German philosopher Shlick, while Otto Neurath and Carnap took hold of a neo-positivist theory of truth, claiming that it was a circular approach and insisting on the presence of ethics in truth. 

Be consistent according to the psychology of thought

Starting from the psychology of thought, valid forms of reasoning are studied, as well as the most frequent fallacies of thought. One of those we do according to the inductive form is to believe that the truth of the premises guarantees the truth of the conclusion. On the contrary, a fallacy also occurs when we draw conclusions without knowing the premises, or even knowing them.

These distortions in thinking are observable in recent social phenomena such as posteriority or populism. The latter can be an example of syllogistic reasoning, in which the conclusion is drawn from the inadequacy of the major premise with the minor, which gives rise to a fallacious thought.

Posteriority can be contemplated as a type of formal and unconditional fallacy, called the affirmation of the consequent. This fallacy occurs because a second element is asserted and it is wrongly concluded that its antecedent is true.

When it comes to elaborating any judgment, evaluation or taking measures, it is worth remembering Einstein’s contribution to the existence of occult variables. For the famous German scientist, in reality, the results of the measurements should be predictable, and if they are not, it is because we are not aware of some information. To this information he gave the name of “hidden variables” of reality.

Consistency and health

In 1987, Antonovsky proposed the concept of a sense of coherence (SOC) as a salutogenic variable, or mediator of health in stressful situations. This construct was developed as a measure of resilience and is associated with self-esteem and improved resistance to stress.

The positive value of being coherent has been studied by a constructivist therapy that goes by the name of coherence therapy. This therapy integrates in an interesting way what has been effective in the clinical practice of psychology, according to what has been confirmed by neuroscience.

Coherence therapy achieves effective results, managing to intervene on the blocked emotional experience and integrate it into memory to give a conscious meaning. In other words, it is a question of giving back to the individual – or restoring – his personal and global coherence.

This whole or global character, which shapes the truth of the individual’s experience, is a fundamental characteristic of coherence. The truth acts as a guide or a light to move us along a path, sometimes dark, other times bright.

Each person has had different experiences and yet we know reality to a certain extent, so rather than insist on pursuing a particular example, it is necessary to know our milestone , which is consistency. 

Being consistent: an invisible but fundamental value

The value of coherence, precisely because it is invisible, seems to have gone unnoticed in recent times or to have lost value compared to an exemplary conduct or behavior, which makes more noise. And yet, in the silence, it may be that you are proving more consistent than those who preach or flaunt the example.

Knowing that there are more realities than we can imagine by means of a simple external relationship allows us to get closer to the truth, to develop a greater open-mindedness and to understand the ethical sense of being consistent.