thoughts on spiritual/religious/philisophical debate
i have mixed feelings about debate. i'm mainly talking about debating about beliefs because that is the kind of debate i tend to engage in.
on the one hand, i hate debate. it's rather annoying. I believe in one universal truth and its a lot more inspiring to me when two people from entirely different starting points find common ground, when this happens it feels like getting close to the intangible truth.
on the other hand, debate can get pretty close to the truth as well, just in a much more uncomfortable way. debate is very yin and yang, and i believe that yin and yang embodies everything. in debates, i believe that both people can have entirely opposing views yet both be right. the other person usually doesn't feel this way. that is the main reason i dislike debate. debating with people who think they know everything and are always right is extremely annoying to me. you can never learn anything if you think you know everything. super-logical people also annoy me. just because you can't prove something doesn't mean it's not true.
"All virtue is derived from the tao
Yet the tao's nature is changeable, elusive
Substanceless and formless, yet it produces all shapes
Formless and substanceless, yet it produces all things
Hidden, obscured, yet from it springs all purity, all clarity
From the present to the past
The thread has never disappeared
And through it we can see the workings of nature
How do I know this is so?
There is no how, I listen, and I know"
-Tao Te Ching (xxi)
on the one hand, i hate debate. it's rather annoying. I believe in one universal truth and its a lot more inspiring to me when two people from entirely different starting points find common ground, when this happens it feels like getting close to the intangible truth.
on the other hand, debate can get pretty close to the truth as well, just in a much more uncomfortable way. debate is very yin and yang, and i believe that yin and yang embodies everything. in debates, i believe that both people can have entirely opposing views yet both be right. the other person usually doesn't feel this way. that is the main reason i dislike debate. debating with people who think they know everything and are always right is extremely annoying to me. you can never learn anything if you think you know everything. super-logical people also annoy me. just because you can't prove something doesn't mean it's not true.
"All virtue is derived from the tao
Yet the tao's nature is changeable, elusive
Substanceless and formless, yet it produces all shapes
Formless and substanceless, yet it produces all things
Hidden, obscured, yet from it springs all purity, all clarity
From the present to the past
The thread has never disappeared
And through it we can see the workings of nature
How do I know this is so?
There is no how, I listen, and I know"
-Tao Te Ching (xxi)