Tuesday, October 22, 2013

What You Say/What I Hear

What you say:
I'll try anything once.

What I hear:
I'm lying to sound super adventurous so that you'll like me.
My imagination is very lacking, and I haven't really considered what "anything" might entail.
I really will try anything once, therefore it's amazing that I haven't gotten myself and/or others killed yet. Hey, is that a toaster I can stick this knife into?

What you say:
I hear what you're saying.

What I hear:
...and what you're saying is wrong.

What you say:
I'd really say I'm much more logical than emotional.

What I hear:
I'm deeply emotionally dependent on the belief that I'm logical rather than emotional.
There's a 95+% chance that I have no idea what logic is and can't tell a logical argument from a logical fallacy.

What you say:
Be reasonable!

What I hear:
Be emotional!
Agree with me! 

What you say:
If people were just better educated, this problem wouldn't exist.

What I hear:
I wasn't really listening when they told me you can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink.

1 comment:

  1. Like that a lot.

    I remeber when I was into adrenalin sports a new guy turned up declaring himself without fear, instantly annoying all of us. What would be the point in adrenalin sports if they didn't teach you adrenalin is brown. He recieved an education from a number of people that we all have fear, nothing harmful but educational none the less.
    Evolution will have weeded out the species that would try anything once very early on. 'I'm going to go give that top predator a nice scratch behind the ears, they'll love it.'
    I have done things I would never have dreamed of in my childhood and some of them went horribly wrong. It didn't make me any more interesting just someone for the hospital staff to laugh at.
    Extremists are always boring as hell to anyone not into their stuff anyway.

    If you haven't come to terms with your emotions that isn't a strength its a serious weakness and hiding behind the facade of logic won't help you. Emotions can hurt like hell but hiding from them is stupid. I used to say I love with my head not my heart but the more I have seen of those who declare themselves as lead by their heart the more I think I should say I love with my whole being not just my genitals or sheer desperation.
    We need to think through our invovlements, not to do so is an insult to the person we declare affection to. Using the term 'I love you' when not totally sure is a sure fire route to unhappiness via break up or realisation that you were wrong but feel too trapped to leave.

    Be reasonable, do it my way. Very much the way of many too scared to be wrong.

    You can lead a person to education, but you can't make them think.
    The education argument is nonesense. We have been taught for years the harm of smoking but people still do it, through pregnancy included. Education only works when people are willing to use the knowledge they gain.
    There is not a person allive who doesn't do something they know they shouldn't, and of course all generalisations are wrong.
    Education is very important, because at least it gives people the tools to decide with. It doesn't make the decisions for people and in fairness it shouldn't, free will or illusion of.

    ReplyDelete

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