Too much of the conversation nowadays is given without any thoughtful reflection on the subject being offered. Not only that but it seems that the third option of choice, after agreeing or disagreeing, is "I don't know". I fall into this category much of the time but when I don't I use a simple rule to justify my positive or negative response. I filter the question or statement through the ideals of equality, respect, honor and justice. If the conversation cannot live up to these ideals then the time wasted on them is lost. That old saying, paraphrased; "I would rather remain silent and thought a fool then to open my mouth and prove it", should be on our minds whenever we enter into conversations that need more of our time to reflect upon before offering an opinion. Too much of the time many would rather just offer someone else's talking point as their own so that they may appear to be more intellectual than they really are. That is a cop out and is not worthy a strategy of any seriously enlightened person. It is okay to say I don't know and then to ask for the opposing arguments on however many sides there are. It is what we do when we don't know a subject. Just because the subject may be known by many others doesn't make us stupid for not knowing that particular one, it just means we give our thoughts to other priorities instead. We can always catch up and then become a part of the conversation when we feel like we have done our reasoning, analysis and then hopefully concluding.
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