First Steps in Conversation : Humility

There's a lot we don't know.

On the other side of that, there is a lot that we believe we know.

First, we must recognize we have biases in order to subdue our self-righteous attitudes always wanting to burst forth out of our hearts and, subsequently, our mouths.

Please listen friend, everyone has a bias.

We grow up with our minds wired to be opinionated.   There is nothing inherently amiss in having opinions.  The problem stems from those opinions not being sound.  Soundness is a part of critical thinking which deals with our claims.   A claim must not merely be valid, it must have conclusions that follow from that claim.

In other words, opinions cannot be mere random thoughts about a topic, but must be based on reasoning that is sound – otherwise they are nothing more than clangor; a beating drum without a melody; a repeated water drip on a forehead.

Our opinions don't matter if they are not sound.

But the thing is this… we are all guilty at one time or another of holding an unsound opinion – of making a claim that draws a foolish or unwise conclusion. We must, then, strive always to remember that we are fallible.  We must be humble.

Our aim in dialogue must be to help others towards understanding.  It helps us hone our own understanding of a truth as well.  Both goals depend upon being humble.  Humility is foundational to any real conversation and is always necessary when involving things of the intellect.

There's more to be said about all this, but let's start here… be humble, dear friend, and your conversations in real life and online will BEGIN to example something noble and quite grand.

As well as making Minds.com more than just a mere alternative to other platforms.  #minds