Bias Blinds a Man
Rav Chaim was explaining a basic principle in man: that bias greatly affects our ability to understand. If a person has a prejudice against a way of thinking, he isn’t open-minded and he becomes incapable of hearing the truth no matter how clear or obvious. To allow for free will, Hashem gave man this uncanny ability to shut his mind down, to ignore all proofs and all logic and to blindly follow his desires. When a man has made up his mind and doesn’t want to hear the truth, there is nothing that can prove him wrong. His mind is shut.
This seems to be the answer to understanding Korach’s question. Korach wasn’t approaching Moshe to seek the truth; his sole intention was to mock and discredit Moshe. With that mindset, the strength of the question and whether there was an answer to it didn’t matter. There was no question, only scorn and derision in the guise of a question. It was a question that had no answer because it wasn’t a question – it was an answer.
This concept has great relevance in our lives. There will be times when we are perplexed by situations we don’t understand. We don’t know which way to turn, and the answers we seek aren’t forthcoming. It may well be we can’t find the answer, but sometimes when the answer eludes us, it’s not because the answer isn’t there but because we aren’t listening. Sometimes the answer may be right there but we aren’t open to it, and so we can’t hear it. It’s not that there aren’t answers; it is that we aren’t asking questions.
Hashem created man with a heart of truth, and if a person puts aside his bias and opens his mind, he is capable of hearing the answer. The key to the process is to ask oneself a few pointed questions: What is the truth? Forget my self-interest; forget the consequences; what is the right path? What does Hashem want me to do?
If a person follows this process, his inner sense will guide him past the darkness and he will be able to find the truth.
