I’ve said this before: there is and will never be shortage of opinions. While online publishing continues to evolve, some fundamentals don’t. The greatest of these is our humanness. I’m yet to be convinced that social media fundamentally changes us. It only impacts how we express ourselves. This includes opinions and worldviews. Various publishing tools mean we continue to share competing arguments and viewpoints in other means.
Because we can have discussions and argue online, it doesn’t mean we must have resolution. While we share our opinions with the goal of convincing people, this rarely happens. Sometimes we comment because we want to be right for the sake of it. Fact. At other times we dissent because we want others to realise the folly of their perspectives.
And, in the mix of all our motives, there’s a part of us that wants to get others to change their minds. We want them to come round to our beliefs and convictions. This post isn’t about who’s right or wrong. It’s about how resolution shouldn’t be the point of every engagement.
Speaking to people with divergent views with no conclusion can be a good thing. Sometimes our debates are more important that finding the right answer.
When Resolution Shouldn’t Be The Point
Perspectives
Sometimes no one is wrong. Perspectives can sometimes be a matter of seeing the same truth from a different angle. People can have different views, and both be right or wrong, together. There’s a false dichotomy that inflames our contestation of ideas: One of us is wrong and I’m the one who’s right.
This is what often lies at some of our societal atrocities.
I’m in no way suggesting that truth doesn’t matter. I’m saying that truth is sometimes that we’re both right and wrong.
Neither
One of the possibilities is neither right, wrong nor grey. Sometimes the morality of anything is neither. There are times when things are just what they are. Amoral. Our views on some issue are inconsequential. They change nothing and have negligible impact on our lives and the world at large.
Our irrational egos can have us push to have the final say.
The Thing Is
Humility is always a thing. It allows us to listen to others who don’t see, sound and look like us. It is how we get to sit at the table and be empathetic. What we often need is to see more hues. To appreciate the colour spectrum. To see more. There are times we must be OK with not having consensus.
By this I’m not suggesting the, “Let’s agree to disagree”. Some people say that as a way of avoiding conflict. Some adopt that as a way of defending their narrow-mindedness. We should be OK with seeing things as they are.
I guess in some ways, we can approach how we live and lead as if viewing a painting. Look at all of it. Looks closer at what you like, grapple with whatever it unsettles. Step back, and let it speak to you. Tuck your hands behind you, and walk to the next one.
Resolution shouldn’t always be the point.