I would like you to think for a moment.
Remember the last time you encountered an opinion different from yours.
Be that online, at the dinner table, in the workplace or with a stranger.
Reflect on this a moment.
How did you react? How did the conversation go?
Were you angry, offended, defensive, or open and understanding.
Finally, how did you feel after the encounter?
Whilst we often see our own opinions as something to be protected at all costs, there was once a time when we welcomed those who perceived the world differently than ourselves.
The library of Alexandria in Ancient Egypt was a meeting place for students such as Euclid, Ptolemy and Hypatia as well as people from all over the world. They would often come together in order to debate and consider alternative opinions. Learning from each others cultures and taking the information back to their homelands.
However it would seem in this modern age that no matter where you look, be it the media, news, social platforms or even your friends and family. Everybody has an opinion. We have slowly but surely been boxed off into our separated beliefs, taught that our specific doctrines are correct and anything that differs from them is wrong. Whether it’s the left, right, alt left, alt right, atheist, Christian, male or female. There always seems to be something out there to keep us divided.
More often than not, if we could put aside our ego’s, we would begin to see that in fact there is far more we share in common than we do not.
The fact that our beliefs differ is the very reason we are able to craft such beautiful architecture, art, and books.
Could you imagine a world where we all thought and acted in the same way, each belief and thought process being identical?
Is that a world you would want to live in?
Unfortunately more and more of us take opinions as a personal attack. If our beliefs or point of view are challenged we feel as if we must defend them, often resorting to an attack on the invading party. This of course has been perpetuated by the world of social media.
As much as it has helped us connect globally, it has also shone an unforgiving light upon the less desirable traits of modern society. I am of course referring to ‘the trolls’. Social media opened the door to an insatiable amount of opinions and boy did they come. Charging in their hordes armed with fast fingers and keyboards made of steel. Marching upon the battlefield of their chosen platform forcing their opinions on all whom cross their path and tearing down the beliefs of anyone that opposed them.
But this does not need to be the case. We all possess an incredible power only gifted to us as humans. This is the magic of the imagination. Okay, I am sure you’re thinking what on earth does imagination have to do with a logical and reasoned debate. But in reality, the majority of the arguments that go on today seem to be void of either of those.
With our imagination we possess the ability to not only see life from our own point of view but to also place ourselves into the shoes of another person. This is the true meaning of empathy. We genuinely possess the ability to take ourselves away from our own conditioned mind-set and for a moment see how and why another person may view the world the way they do.
When we open our minds like this, we are able to understand their perspective. Discovering what made them reach their conclusion, why they think the way they do and where they are coming from.
Of course we can’t do this just by imagining. We have to engage with the person, speak and ask questions; be willing to understand their minds and their point.
Suddenly, instead of entering a battlefield with the sword of our opinions raised high, and the shield of our perception blocking out anything that may change it. We come together as artists. Crafting new perspectives by sharing and exchanging our ideas, in the hope that we can help each other reach a deeper more meaningful understanding. We engage as human beings, eager to learn and open our hearts to one another.
The best thing about this type of conversation is that we both win regardless of the outcome.
If you discuss and engage with another person you may understand where they’re coming from and why they’ve reached that conclusion. But you may still feel as if your opinion is correct. However at least you now understand the alternative view and you can begin to strengthen and develop your perspective in relation to that.
However, upon investigating this persons beliefs, diving deeper into their minds. Something quite magnificent may happen. You may discover a pearl. A piece of information you had perhaps never considered or even thought of. This wisdom can then be combined with your opinion and perhaps help in changing your own current worldview.
You both walk away as victors, fulfilled and pleased with the outcome.
This is a special gift we as humans possess and I feel that at the moment we aren’t utilising it enough.
I appreciate that you can’t do this with everybody and I am sure sometimes questions may be met with hostility, but if we approach opinions this way, those encounters shall be in the minority. So the next time you’re confronted with an opinion that conflicts with yours, take a moment to try and understand where they’re coming from. If we make this a daily practice it shall help us all in creating a healthier more balanced worldview.
And let’s face it; we most certainly need more people with that!