I encounter claims every day. I hear them, make them, read them, and challenge them. I decided to do a bit of research into what is a claim.

I understand a claim to be a statement that asserts a thing as true or presents a point of view. The funny thing about truth is that there can be multiple versions of the truth. So perhaps I’ll re-update my working definition:

A claim is a statement, view, or perceived truth about a thing.

And given that definition, I therefore believe that robust claims persist through cross-examination. Perhaps claims worth adopting are claims that persist through time and critique.

There are plenty of people making plenty of claims in the world. And, I believe I should be skeptical of the claims I encounter. It’s my experience that being a laggard adopter of an idea serves me better than being early.

And, it’s my experience that any time I allow myself to operate just a bit slower than life, the tradeoff is more contentment.