I run into bad ideas a lot, mostly ones I spawn myself. Knowing this has tempered my enthusiasm for ideas out the gate, and driven me to seek criticism. Only valid criticism has enabled me to recognize many bad ideas I might have otherwise acted on, and the lack of it has proved to me how valuable it is pondering the after effects of acting on bad ideas.

One thing that I note about bad ideas is that it seems that everyone has them, some more, some less. Given the universality of bad ideas, I am comforted when I discover one I wasn't aware was bad prior to being criticized for it. A very beneficial fruit of this theory is the possibility to be more humble. Arrogantly dismissing someone for harboring a bad idea you feel is obvious has a terrible flavor when flavoring humble pie upon discovering bad ideas you yourself harbor. I find it's bitter taste unappealing, so make an effort to avoid it when possible.

When not flavored strongly with arrogance, humble pie tastes sweet indeed, and the added benefit of becoming right when before you were wrong, well, that tastes sweetest of all!

While we can avail ourselves of humility and enjoy very much the benefits of criticism, all too often bad ideas aren't promoted in political realms by accident, but rather to fool people so that they can be taken advantage of. We should nonetheless be gentle in our criticisms and refusal to agree with bad ideas from such people, because nothing tastes worse than eating your words when your lies have been found out, and we should pity those that are going to be gorging on their own words when their lies are no longer believed, and they are found out.

Thanks!