Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark Lapierre  Dimitry, you're not actually at odds with yourself are you? Your post doesn't imply any negativity associated with your thought process. You're simply visualising a discussion between two opposing viewpoints as a rational argument between two people.
I'm sure that most of us, when thinking about any serious topic, will consider multiple points of view, weight them up, and use our existing knowledge and ability to reason to discard the points of view we don't agree with.
It seems to me that all you've done Dimitry, is to visualise that analytical process. Possibly because you're used to having these sorts of face-to-face discussions, and it therefore seems natural to you to visualise your own internal reasoning as a discussion between two people.
If that is the case, and your internal dialogue is purely rational and emotionless, then I don't see any harm in it. However as Vincent said, keeping the discussion inside your head can be inconclusive; writing things down will help you structure your thoughts better than discussing them with yourself would. Also, you're limiting yourself to only two points of view. You could be subconsciously preventing yourself from becoming aware of alternatives.
On the other hand, if your internal arguments do stem from a desire to justify your position on a particular topic, then it is self-detrimental, and my advice would be the same as everyone else's; don't feed the ego. |
I wish I could reply more in depth to this thread as it's brought up various interesting aspects/venues to look into. It's a busy time though so I can only make a quick reply (but will do so later on).
To answer your question Mark, I seem to have both. I picked up on it subconciously but never analyzed that. In the case where I'm just debating, I don't always mind it so much, but as you said, what frustrates me is that it's mostly circular logic and inconclusive. So probably if it's an important issue to analyze further for me, I should start writing them down.
I do also have the other kind of argument where if I felt that I didn't "win" my friend over or in some way his argument at the time was better, I would still try to argue that in my head to prove my point. I almost have a sick like feeling and it does usually spiral downward. The good news is as I started taking responsibility for all things that I can hope to control, I've had these types of arguments less frequently.