Flip a coin because I didn’t like unlucky py
I commit the coherence fallacy: the side with more coherent arguments is usually the right side.
Biggest biceps. If civil conversation dies and it’s down to a fistfight, you need the biggest biceps.
You don’t, just be honest when you don’t know. You can join a conversation without taking a side. If you really want to join, see if your insights are valuable. And if they’re not, that’s also fine, just don’t
“align”? What is this, a project kickoff meeting?
Then I just don’t pick sides. I don’t see why one would need to. Palestine - Israel conflict is a good example of this. I can easily criticize and defend both sides. Same applies to my political views as well.
You don’t. Who says you need to take a side in everything. Something just do not concern you.
And sometimes things don’t have sides, except for those who want to divide people. You can think that two, or even more, people who are arguing both have good points… and maybe you add more.
True, enlightened discussion doesn’t have winners and losers… it has open minds.
Yup. Imagine how much less ignorant noise there would be on the Internet if people were humble enough to admit that maybe they DON’T know enough to join in the argument.
Imagine admitting to yourself that you don’t know everything
You shouldn’t view things like they have “sides”. People are complicated. Situations involving one or many people are even more complex. People who have done arguably great things for humanity have also done terrible things in their personal lives. It’s not an all or nothing type of thing. Some people will tell you it is, but those people are either stupid or pushing an agenda.
Picking “sides” removes any nuance from the conversation and is often short sighted.
You can generally agree with a “side” but find individual statements that you disagree with. There are basically no “sides” or people that I universally agree with across every single little thing.
I’ll give one of my favorite examples of this: The Wright brothers. Without them we wouldn’t have modern flight which has not only saved countless lives but it also enabled great expansion with their new technology. Most people would argue that the Wright brothers were very important and a good thing that happened… however the Wright brothers were incredibly litigious and because of that they probably held back the technological growth of aviation for several years because of that behavior. At that time technology was moving incredibly quick so who knows how much it delayed things in the grand scheme of things.
It doesn’t mean that them figuring out how to fly and making the first air plane is now bad, but it does change their perception that they were these giving “father’s of flight”. They were greedy little shits who wanted all the money who happened to figure out how to fly.
A more common example would Winston Churchill. Arguably one of the most important players during WW2. Many argue that without his leadership the war would have gone quite different. He also happened to be super racist.
Don’t discredit everything good someone has done because of one bad thing they did. But also don’t ignore the bad things people have done because they have done some good. Take them as the whole. Flawed but human.
If you’re not sure, you should wait. The state of being confused is valuable and you should nurture it rather than dismiss it.
You don’t have to have an opinion on everything.
You can have an opinion, just don’t treat it as sacrosanct. Be open to change.
Rather strong opinion loosely held than the other way around.
Some people might have never even considered something untill they’re asked about it. Then they quickly form an opinion about it in that moment and now that opinion immediately becomes part of their identity and they’re willing to defend it tooth and nail.
Why is a tie breaker needed? Sometimes things are equally good/bad.
If this is about a personal relationship, all you should focus on is minimizing harm. Assume that any fear on one party is valid, and help to keep them separate from a potential attacker. Don’t invalidate the feelings of either party - we may not always get to learn the truth, but many times we have to mitigate with incomplete information, but also that it is not your responsibility to fix alone. Remember that your strength is for protection, not destruction. Everyone sees things differently, including you, so there might be red flags that one party sees clearly that you missed - assume their judgment is right. If you are super positive, double checked, super sure that there is no risk of harm, then you dont need to directly intervene, but you can still emotionally support both sides without invalidating the other one, and it’s their loss if this is only about turning you into the rope in a tug of war for attention. Make some different friends if this is only about manipulating you.
If this, however, is about politics, then you must remember that the only true natural law is that the biggest army wins, therefore, there is no such thing as neutrality. You cannot stand for all sides, nor should you stand for nothing and you should move to protect your family, friends and community from acts of hatred. Use your strength for protection, never against the weak and powerless, lest your own alliances and friendships be short lived; History shows repeatedly that movements formed from hatred are weak, short sighted, make poor allegiences, never learn from history, and are self destructive. Distrust any source of information that makes you feel scared and angry - especially if they use stereotypes to do so - since these are wedges to separate you from your community and to keep you addicted to propaganda. Keep your sources of information as varied as a healthy diet would be. And never ever, no matter how bad things seem to get, lose your faith in humanity. In the art of trying to be well informed, you will stare into the abyss. And the 1/3 of the human population made of evil hearts will dominate this information. You wont hear any of the other 2/3. Especially that last third made of good hearts. Hold onto this hope, and you will know any voice against the whole of society is wrong.
If I’m not invested, I do what everyone ITT is saying.
Until someone tries to bully me into picking a side. Then my side is “not yours”.
