Who are you hooting at?

In 1997, in Devon, England, Neil Simmons spent the year hooting at what he believed were owls in his backyard. He was delighted by their nightly replies … until his wife eventually discovered the truth. There were no owls. It was just the neighbor, Fred Cornes, hooting back each night with equal enthusiasm, also convinced he was talking to owls.

Neither of them had any idea. Night after night, both were thoroughly convinced of their own accuracy. They weren’t just wrong, they were unaware of how wrong they were.

This is more than a funny anecdote. It’s a precise picture of how most people move through the world. We believe we see clearly. We believe we know what we’re hearing, what we’re doing, what’s going on. But many of our ideas, judgments, and actions are based on assumptions that feel obvious but are totally mistaken.

When we’re sure we’re right
Proverbs 18:13 says, “Spouting off before listening to the facts is both shameful and foolish.”

Notice the language – it doesn’t just say it’s incorrect to speak prematurely, it says it’s shameful and foolish. The Hebrew word translated “spouting off” refers to answering or giving a response, meaning the verse isn’t about ranting, it’s about drawing conclusions. And that’s exactly what we’re prone to do.

We don’t wait to understand. We don’t gather full context. We don’t ask better questions. We hear something, see something, or assume something, and we act on it as though it were fully true. In our minds, the owls are real, the responses are confirmation, and we never consider that we may have gotten the whole thing wrong.

What’s worse is that we feel confident while we’re doing it. Confidence is not clarity. Feeling right is not the same as being right. And nowhere is this more dangerous than in spiritual, relational, or moral matters.

The deeper danger
Self-assurance becomes self-deception when we stop being teachable. A mind that cannot slow down long enough to verify, to ask, to listen, becomes the very definition of a fool. And that’s what scripture is warning against.

This doesn’t mean we should be paralyzed, afraid to think or act. It means we must become more curious, more honest, and more careful. We must know that we don’t know everything. And we must become better at asking: “Do I have the facts? Have I truly listened?”

Humility isn’t uncertainty, it’s wisdom. Neil Simmons didn’t need more confidence in his owl theory, he needed a little more curiosity. A little more awareness. So do we.

Scotty