it's recently occurred to me how much i dislike disagreeing. when i reach an impasse with someone that can't be resolved. one exception that comes to mind is belief in God. this disagreement doesn't phase me as much because i don't consider the belief in God to be one based on intellect. you can disagree with me on this, but i've found personal experience to be a weighty factor in the belief or disbelief in God. hm, maybe any difference of opinion formed through experience is ok by me. for instance, if you and i both go to a restaurant and we both leave with different opinions, that wouldn't faze me because our experience was different.
anyway, disagreeing on an issue or life choice really troubles me. i think this is because if both parties are informed, intelligent people (which i assume we are), i don't get how we can look at the same thing and see something different. it makes me question reality, because how else could we understand things differently than both of us not having a clear understanding of the situation? at times, i try to give myself some peace of mind by trying to factor personal experience in. it's really the only thing that makes sense of disagreeing. but somethings really are objective, regardless of experience. and even when it's not... can't we all just say "well, in my experience, x or y was important" and let it go? i'm not someone who wants to convince everyone of my opinion, but there's some part inside me that believes that there is truth at the heart of any issue regardless of our personal opinion or experience, and i just want to uncover that.
sadly, not every issue, perspective, life choice has a clear and definitely answer. this is especially uncomfortable as one who feels most peaceful among certainty. i suppose i just need to remind myself that life is not comprised of an infinite number yes or no answers. sometimes, it seems, it really does come down to personal choice.
the story with the animals is the better story.
1 comment:
I think that often disagreement occurs when one party does not have all the information. But sometimes, I think that people's feelings, fears, desires, etc. are so strong that they can override logic, reason and fact. I do tend to agree with you that there is truth at the heart of any issue. Well, MOST issues anyway.
I was just chatting the other night with Jason about something we disagreed on and it was something I had done much more reading and research on than he had. I told him that I was fully confident that I would convert him to my way of thinking. I felt confident of that because feelings don't get in the way at all for him and hard evidence will convince him of anything. I am very thankful to have a partner like that.
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