How to think differently
In our world, there’s a trend for most topics or ideas to be split in two; there’s one side, and then the opposing. Left, right, up, down. Republican. Democratic. Left. Right. It’s a natural tendency to try and split items down the middle, in order that we can better understand or identify with one or the other.
For two people with opposing views, there are often instances where one party is at fault, such as when a car rear-ends another. While one party is at fault, the accident would not have occurred if the other car were not there to hit, though this does not place equal blame on the person receiving the hit.
I think there are healthy ways to have respectful discourse with people that see things differently than I do. For example, I’m not a vegan, but I share their desire to be healthy in the things that I eat – which is a value that we both share in our own respective diets.
I don’t think less of Vegans. In fact, I respect them for their strict adherence to their dietary choices. It’s really, really hard to be a ‘true’ vegan in this world, because a lot of food doesn’t fall in that category.
While I have the occasional hamburger, I typically avoid meat when I eat, primarily because I’m concerned with the widespread use of hormones, additives, etc.
These days, it seems like it’s a lot harder to find common ground with others, because our society has been so indoctrinated to polarize every single topic and make the ‘opposing’ party somehow bad.
For example, it was only a few years ago that all of us were urged to ‘trust the science’ – and now the science itself shows a different story than the narrative the media gave us, which is visible though the unprecedented rise in heart conditions amongst the young.
How do you find sanity in this world?
Well, let’s start with the alphabet.
A. B. C. D. E. F. G. H. I. J. K. LMNO. P. Q.R.S. T. U. V. W. X. Y. Z.
Next, let’s introduce numbers.
- 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
While all of these characters exist on the English keyboard, I’d ask you this:
Can a letter ever call itself a number? Can a number ever call itself a letter?
It depends on how you look at it.
No single number will ever be a letter. However, if you compose the right sequence of numbers using binary coding, you’ll see that the letter A is represented numerically as:
|
A |
01000001 |
Which one is A? Both, technically.
Which one is a number? The numerical digits.
Even the A can be a number when you use algebra.
I share this because I think that context is everything when it comes to beliefs, viewpoints and even lifestyle choices.
All context aside, is there such a thing as universal truth? I believe so. If you took a straw panel of 100 people and asked them if rape should be celebrated or condemned, I think it’s safe to say that a majority/all of the participants would agree that rape is wrong.
The same thing can be said for murder. In no instance is it acceptable for somebody to murder a child, and absolutely nothing will ever change this empirical truth.
There’s a large uproar in the media right now about world events, and it seems like there’s been a very polarizing line between most people.
I’m an apple. You’re an orange. We’re both fruit and it would be silly for one of us to somehow argue that one or the other was somehow ‘more’ of a fruit than the other. Yet, it would be reasonable for somebody who didn’t like apples to think that oranges were better, because their taste buds find them agreeable.
In any instance where two parties are both guilty of infractions, there can never be a ‘more wrong’ person, and any attempt to make one party the bad party simply makes both parties a loser. In my life, this thought process is what has led to a lot of division, loss and heartache.
I’m trying more now to look at things from an objective position and try to see, hear and understand the ideas or beliefs that others share, which involves making a conscious effort to shut up, listen and default to a position of understanding.
I don’t always get it right, nor can anybody. But I believe that what our world needs now is compassion, understanding and peace.
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