Personal Development for Smart People Forums - View Single Post - Dealing With Close-Mindedness (Blog)

haider · 12-01-2006, 12:49 PM

PhoenixBlossom, I love how you picked up on "grant others freedom." I thought I'd change it because it was ambiguous, but then decided to leave it in to stimulate discussion.

I don't mean I grant others the *right* to freedom of thought. That's not for me to grant. I meant by my conduct, I give them the freedom and breathing space to come up with their own conclusions. "Grant" refers to my conduct, and not my permission for others to think freely!

For example, if somebody said to me: "I totally disagree with you," I can either insist that he agrees with me, or I can say: "That's fine." Either way, he has the freedom to think for himself, but he will be coerced into verbally "accepting" my opinion in the former scenario. To "grant others freedom" means to treat them in a way that would not coerce them into accepting a certain belief.

I actually believe it's impossible to force someone to accept an idea he's not convinced of (it can only be verbal acceptance, if he's not convinced).

As for the "inner advisor," that's not subjectivism, but free will. You can't get someone to change his opinion or his conduct, if he doesn't make the decision himself. The "inner advisor" refers to a quality or a "voice" in the person you are talking to, which echoes your message. In simple terms, say you want to encourage someone to find his purpose in life. If the person has never thought of his purpose, and when you mention it to him, he will not realise the importance of a purpose, your advice won't sink in. But if he has given the subject some thought, or even became aware of the importance of purpose as you are speaking to him, your message will have an affect.

I'm sorry, but I don't quite understand how "inner advisor" can translate into subjectivism. And, besides, the subjectivism I object to is to say that we create reality, and that there is no such thing as an objective world. Apart from that, we can certainly have our own beliefs. The measure of how "right" a belief is, is its correspondence to reality. Subjectivism would be that anything you believe in is true, because whatever you believe in is your reality.

I hope I clarified the two issues, and please point out if anything remains ambiguous!

All the best..

12-01-2006, 12:49 PM	#27 (permalink)
haider Junior Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 23	PhoenixBlossom, I love how you picked up on "grant others freedom." I thought I'd change it because it was ambiguous, but then decided to leave it in to stimulate discussion. I don't mean I grant others the right to freedom of thought. That's not for me to grant. I meant by my conduct, I give them the freedom and breathing space to come up with their own conclusions. "Grant" refers to my conduct, and not my permission for others to think freely! For example, if somebody said to me: "I totally disagree with you," I can either insist that he agrees with me, or I can say: "That's fine." Either way, he has the freedom to think for himself, but he will be coerced into verbally "accepting" my opinion in the former scenario. To "grant others freedom" means to treat them in a way that would not coerce them into accepting a certain belief. I actually believe it's impossible to force someone to accept an idea he's not convinced of (it can only be verbal acceptance, if he's not convinced). As for the "inner advisor," that's not subjectivism, but free will. You can't get someone to change his opinion or his conduct, if he doesn't make the decision himself. The "inner advisor" refers to a quality or a "voice" in the person you are talking to, which echoes your message. In simple terms, say you want to encourage someone to find his purpose in life. If the person has never thought of his purpose, and when you mention it to him, he will not realise the importance of a purpose, your advice won't sink in. But if he has given the subject some thought, or even became aware of the importance of purpose as you are speaking to him, your message will have an affect. I'm sorry, but I don't quite understand how "inner advisor" can translate into subjectivism. And, besides, the subjectivism I object to is to say that we create reality, and that there is no such thing as an objective world. Apart from that, we can certainly have our own beliefs. The measure of how "right" a belief is, is its correspondence to reality. Subjectivism would be that anything you believe in is true, because whatever you believe in is your reality. I hope I clarified the two issues, and please point out if anything remains ambiguous! All the best..