I'm glad you posted this, and I'm glad to hear your thoughts. Something like this has been on my mind a lot lately too, and I wrote up a whole long post about it too but then chickened out of posting it. I really agree with you about how people are isolating each other, and it's endlessly frustrating to me that for many people, there is no "discussing" and "listening," it's only "argue louder than the next person to get your point across." And there's no way to learn from each other and no desire to understand each other. To me, you don't have to agree with someone to listen to them. And you don't have to listen to them with the desire to agree. But I believe that I have no right to be heard if I am unwilling to listen.
Anyway, I agree with you about that, and I wish more people would.
A friend once told me something along the lines of "if you get angry or upset at a statement, it's usually because a piece of it might be true". I like to keep this in mind when I listen to other people's ideas because sometimes you ARE uncomfortable with it for the sole reason that there may be a legitimate idea that challenges your own. This isn't really much a rule as much as a way to change your perspective, of course...
I'm really glad that that piece of my blathering came out, because I was re-reading this and was like "wow opinionated much?" Haha. But you and I have sort of talked a bit about this before too, about how it's just so much better when people can listen with open hearts and actually, you know, discuss and understand. I just don't think you really understand your position on matters until you understand all the positions fully. You know?
That's a really good way to look at things, and so often true. The thing people don't seem to understand is that nothing is as black and white was they want it to be. There's something to learn from every viewpoint whether you agree with it or not, and there's so often truth on both sides, so it's so wrong to just not listen.
And yeah, I don't know that it's always possible to understand every position fully, but I am certainly convinced that discussing and understanding will only help you refine or even strengthen your own beliefs on whatever issue you maybe focused on.
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Anyway, I agree with you about that, and I wish more people would.
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I'm really glad that that piece of my blathering came out, because I was re-reading this and was like "wow opinionated much?" Haha. But you and I have sort of talked a bit about this before too, about how it's just so much better when people can listen with open hearts and actually, you know, discuss and understand. I just don't think you really understand your position on matters until you understand all the positions fully. You know?
Reply
And yeah, I don't know that it's always possible to understand every position fully, but I am certainly convinced that discussing and understanding will only help you refine or even strengthen your own beliefs on whatever issue you maybe focused on.
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