Published on 12, July, 2020
I’m not quite sure how to word this, but does anyone else find it hard to have calm discussions with others due to seeing things as more black and white? I often feel really strongly about particular things and ignore the grey area and just get really defensive when someone seems to say anything slightly different to my own opinion. It takes me a while to understand and acknowledge different perspectives. After I’ve taken the (long) time to do so I can clearly see where they’re coming from and will maybe change my own view slightly as well, but it doesn’t necessarily get better the next time the topic comes up and I still react too strongly.
I think people in the centre often assume they are more intelligent than people who are more hyperfocused and ideological. I'm not sure whether there any facts or evidence to back this up. I think often they are just less interested in issues. More interested in other things
There's a rather quaint saying: "If the only tool you have is a hammer then everything looks like a nail"
I believe it could be rewritten (more clumsily admittedly) If the only cognitive tool you have is an Ideology then everyone else outside of it, looks like an enemy.
As a centrist I find that extremists of all stripes call me names and can fall into the trap of making false assumptions about what I might believe.
If, as a centrist I do carry a form of arrogance, it's not that I feel more intelligent, but I do believe I have a wider bank of information to draw on, for obvious reasons..