Can’t we just hold it?

[coberst]

Can’t we just hold it?

Accept or reject are not the only options one has. The most important and generally overlooked, especially by the young, is the option to ‘hold’.

It appears to me that many young people consider that ‘to be negative is to be cool’. This leads them into responding that ‘X is false’ when responding to an OP that states that ‘X is true’.

When a person takes a public position affirming or denying the truth of ‘Y’ they are often locking themselves into a difficult position. If their original position was based on opinion rather than judgment their ego will not easily allow them to change position once they have studied and analyzed ‘Y’.

The moral of this story is that holding a default position of ‘reject or accept’, when we are ignorant, is not smart because our ego will fight any attempt to modify the opinion with a later judgment. Silence, or questions directed at comprehending the matter under consideration, is the smart decision for everyone’s default position.

Our options are reject, accept, and hold. I claim that ‘hold’ is the most important and should be the most often used because everyone is ignorant of almost everything.

Do you accept, reject, or hold judgment regarding my claim?

[loe]

If I understand you right, it's important to think over an opinion/a matter before rejecting or accepting ist. "To hold" seems to be a preliminary stage of the final decision.
In this case I totally agree with you.

But to hold instead of reject or accept could awake the impression that someone isn't interested in the matter.
Of course, we don't have to say it out loud that we accept or reject, but inside we should take a position.

I doubt that it is possible to be so extremely objective that one can see so many pros and cons that he/she is incapable of rejecting or accepting. Seems to be not human any longer. ;)

I apologize If I misunderstood you.

Best regards

[backline]

In my own thinking I tend to be too black or white.
I used to think something stated was either true or false 100%, especially accusations or observations by others.

Lately I've noticed that to have consideration of another person's viewpoint doesn't have to mean I accept it or reject it 100%.

I used to hate it when someone would say rhetorically, "True enough!"
Now, I'm beginning to have use for that term myself.

[coberst]

Iraq has weapons of mass destruction.
Freud and Darwin are frauds.
God made me.
You are driving too fast.

When faced with these statements does it matter which of the three buttons ‘accept, reject, or hold’ that you push?

Just what impact does a decision of 'reject or accept' have on my future considerations?

It is my assumption that such a decision causes me to either stop or at least to slow down any further consideration of the matter. It appears to me that many of our conclusions are “worked out” within our unconscious, especially while we sleep.

Our educational system is designed around the basic premise that the students will accept what is told to them and that this acceptance is very important for their future welfare and for the welfare of the community.

[optimisticnad]

'can't we just hold it' - for a second I thought this was a senior citizen thread about holding water.

I like what PAM above me said - 'just what impact does a decision of 'reject or accept' have on my future considerations'.

I think if we only 'held' we'd never form our own opinions and views, often it is by 'rejecting' or 'accepting' ideas that we find out what we believe/think, your answer seems a little too passive for me; in some situations it'd work great but most of the time it'd be a way out of making important decisions.

[V.Jayalakshmi]

Dear Coberst,

I think I understand you.We are sometimes sick of being too opinionated.Also a middle way is sometimes best before examining the right and wrong of opinions.Many terrors and wars could have been avioded if only people had the patience to 'hold' instead of being either on one side or the next side. There is always a gray side to life and many a time neither black nor white dominates, but grey does so.

O.K. think ahead.You will arrive to your own conclusion about what is best.

[NikolaiI]

I've begun to not take so seriously those who say our education system is a sham. It depends on the state, the school, the area, the teachers, and even the students. It depends a lot on the teachers, but it also depends on the students. My teachers did not teach me only to accept them, they also taught me critical thinking. They were wonderful people, very intelligent, and just upstanding people all-around. As are most people.

[backline]

...They were wonderful people, very intelligent, and just upstanding people all-around. As are most people.


This view reminds me of the story of the farmer who was asked by a passerby what the people were like in the next village?
Farmer asks, "What were they like in the last village?"
Passerby: "They treated me bad. Terrible people."
Farmer: "You'll find the people in the next town to be the same."

Later in the day a different passerby asks the same question.
Farmer: "How did you find the people of the last town you were in?"
Passerby: "Fine. They treated me well, and I got along with everybody."
Farmer: "I think you'll probably find the people in the next village to be the same."

-unknown origin