As an undergrad at Utah State University, I took a class called "Human dimensions of natural resources." It was taught by James Kennedy, a wiry and intense professor in the Environment and Society department. If I remember right, it was his last year before retirement. He interspersed the typical subjects of stakeholders and wicked problems with anecdotes. Nary a day went by without multiple nuggets of concentrated wisdom. I wasn't a very good student in any of my classes, but I was enthralled during his lectures.
Dr. Kennedy used one phrase more than any other: "For better and for worse." He intentionally avoided the more common phrasing "for better or for worse" because he insisted that each perspective, choice, or approach had tradeoffs. He wasn't saying that all sides were equally right on all topics at all times (see the Dylan quote at the end of this post for proof of that). He was saying that there wasn't a person or opinion we couldn't learn from. He was saying that values and practices from all peoples and philosophies can help us become more whole. He was saying that positive and true ideas, when decontextualized or taken to the extreme, can become liabilities. There isn't some fad diet or life hack that will replace thoughtfulness and discipline.
