Second Discourse: The war of ideas
No wind favors he who has no destined port.”
— Montaigne
Why do we fight for ideas?
What are our concerns so deep, that we need to fight in order to defend them? Why we have to kill to defend them?
Still, after more than 4000 years of known human civilizations’ story, we still fight among us to defend our different worldviews. But, are they so different in the end?
We could approach it by asking some questions:
- Do we believe that everyone is equal?
- Do we believe that everyone needs an equal opportunity or access to it?
- Do we believe that education should provide to all?
- Do we believe that the basic needs for every human should be met?
- Do we believe that building communities and have a democracy is a way to collaborate better and solve problems?
- And we can add many more, as well…
Do we have the same answer for all of them? I think not… Still, we don't know, still, we disagree. And that is the way the logical way of finding true. But, when disagreeing too much hinders the path towards and resolution and it becomes from a building power to an obstacle; what we should do?
It is true that we can argue for a lot of things but, we should not define ourselves by the differences of the other; that is not a constructive way of finding one its self. We need to think of our selves as a union of things — of different things — coming together and developing into a unique mixture of ideas and thinking. We are not just our environments and we are not just the other; and the same goes for all the people we think like others, as well.
This goes from politics, inside a country the usual left and right divide, to the politics outside the countries, the usual power politics and security dynamics.
In the end, we all want the same thing — to live, to love and to build — but we stuck in the transition road forgetting the exit. We should be reminded of our final destination, our way towards our “port” of unspoken understanding.
I think we should consider that approach every time we start thinking to begin a fight or when we are annoyed by someone’s ideas. Our goal is not conflict, but understanding. Because we are not just us a whole history of ideas slowly building through many lives. By that, of course, doesn't mean we should argue, on the contrary, we should debate and discuss in order to find the common idea. But disagreeing doesn't make anyone an enemy; it just makes a different person~
