I don't like dealing with absolutes.
Absolutes are annoying to deal with, because if you make your absolute too large, then 1 example can destroy the absolute. If you make your absolute too small, then it doesn't really mean anything. The only absolute statement that I believe in, is that there are absolutely no absolute statements or opinions. There are absolutes in mathematics and science, but that is more or less irrelevant for this topic. I just want to talk about what people think or say.
I try to treat all subjects as gray matter; that infinitely large space between white and black opinions. For example, a white opinion would be, "god exists" and a black opinion would be, "god does not exist"I don't want to turn this into a religious discussion, this is just the easiest example I could think of at the moment. The gray area in between these two opinions is, "god could exist but he could not exist". The main reason I like this gray area, is because it requires evidence and supportNo really, I am NOT trying to turn this into a discussion about religion =|, you need to support your opinion to give it credibility. What I also like about the gray area, is that your opinion can develop into a white-ish or black-ish opinion with time and new evidence. You can think, "I don't like pie" but come across a pie that is very good and change your opinion to "pie is actually pretty damn good", then later come across a pie that is terrible and change your opinion to "pie is not always good, but can be". Sticking to a rigid, "all pie is bad" or even, "all X pie is bad" doesn't give you the flexibility to change your opinion when given new evidence.
For example, "rape is bad because it causes irreparable damage to the victim" looks like a white opinion, but that is only because it has support. It is actually a close-to-white-but-actually-gray opinion. Yes it looks like I am being anal, but that is how I classify it. The white opinion would be "rape is bad, no matter what, in all cases, period". Even with rape (puts on flame shield) there are circumstances that I think rape is not bad; like if a rapist goes to jail and gets raped in their cell, I would judge that as a case where rape is not bad. Hell, most people casually joke about prison rape as if it is as commonplace as stubbing your toe. Given enough thought, I can think of a "X is bad, but in Y circumstance, it is acceptable" for anything; sure it requires a whole lot of "ifs" and imagination, but still. My point is, white and black opinions are absolute opinions and have no flexibility, you either adhere to that opinion 100% of the time or you don't adhere to it at all. Gray opinions allow flexibility and can be shaped into white-ish and black-ish opinions case by case.
So enough about me, its time I got to the question I wanted to ask. I just had to do a "little" explaining before I asked my question because even I was confused by what I wanted to ask. I'm sorry the above looks like a wall of text, I just wanted to be as clear as possible.
Question: is there anything you believe in absolutely?
Ex: child porn is bad, fighting games objectify women, slavery is bad, god doesn't exist, etc.
The reason I ask this is because I think most people live in the gray area with me, but think that they live in the white or black area on some subjects. There are a lot of subjects in the world that are polarizing; that drive people to think, "I must think white or black, thinking gray is bad", but as I have hopefully proven to you (or can prove to you if you require more proof) staying in the gray is much better. Staying gray in all things allows your experiences to paint your opinion, rather than having your opinion paint your experiences.
Tried posting this 3 times now but keep getting 404 errors. Hopefully it works this time, I apologize if you see multiple copies of this thread =/
Absolutes are annoying to deal with, because if you make your absolute too large, then 1 example can destroy the absolute. If you make your absolute too small, then it doesn't really mean anything. The only absolute statement that I believe in, is that there are absolutely no absolute statements or opinions. There are absolutes in mathematics and science, but that is more or less irrelevant for this topic. I just want to talk about what people think or say.
I try to treat all subjects as gray matter; that infinitely large space between white and black opinions. For example, a white opinion would be, "god exists" and a black opinion would be, "god does not exist"I don't want to turn this into a religious discussion, this is just the easiest example I could think of at the moment. The gray area in between these two opinions is, "god could exist but he could not exist". The main reason I like this gray area, is because it requires evidence and supportNo really, I am NOT trying to turn this into a discussion about religion =|, you need to support your opinion to give it credibility. What I also like about the gray area, is that your opinion can develop into a white-ish or black-ish opinion with time and new evidence. You can think, "I don't like pie" but come across a pie that is very good and change your opinion to "pie is actually pretty damn good", then later come across a pie that is terrible and change your opinion to "pie is not always good, but can be". Sticking to a rigid, "all pie is bad" or even, "all X pie is bad" doesn't give you the flexibility to change your opinion when given new evidence.
For example, "rape is bad because it causes irreparable damage to the victim" looks like a white opinion, but that is only because it has support. It is actually a close-to-white-but-actually-gray opinion. Yes it looks like I am being anal, but that is how I classify it. The white opinion would be "rape is bad, no matter what, in all cases, period". Even with rape (puts on flame shield) there are circumstances that I think rape is not bad; like if a rapist goes to jail and gets raped in their cell, I would judge that as a case where rape is not bad. Hell, most people casually joke about prison rape as if it is as commonplace as stubbing your toe. Given enough thought, I can think of a "X is bad, but in Y circumstance, it is acceptable" for anything; sure it requires a whole lot of "ifs" and imagination, but still. My point is, white and black opinions are absolute opinions and have no flexibility, you either adhere to that opinion 100% of the time or you don't adhere to it at all. Gray opinions allow flexibility and can be shaped into white-ish and black-ish opinions case by case.
So enough about me, its time I got to the question I wanted to ask. I just had to do a "little" explaining before I asked my question because even I was confused by what I wanted to ask. I'm sorry the above looks like a wall of text, I just wanted to be as clear as possible.
Question: is there anything you believe in absolutely?
Ex: child porn is bad, fighting games objectify women, slavery is bad, god doesn't exist, etc.
The reason I ask this is because I think most people live in the gray area with me, but think that they live in the white or black area on some subjects. There are a lot of subjects in the world that are polarizing; that drive people to think, "I must think white or black, thinking gray is bad", but as I have hopefully proven to you (or can prove to you if you require more proof) staying in the gray is much better. Staying gray in all things allows your experiences to paint your opinion, rather than having your opinion paint your experiences.
Tried posting this 3 times now but keep getting 404 errors. Hopefully it works this time, I apologize if you see multiple copies of this thread =/
