In recent months I have
been trying to lose arguments. It’s a
bit like that scene in the movie Fight
Club when Tyler Durden tells everyone that their homework is to pick a
fight with a complete stranger – and then to lose – except that I’m not really
going out of my way to start fights or arguments. I’m just trying to lose them. It doesn't happen often, but every now and
then something that I post on my blog or a comment that I make on the Facebook,
or a link that I share riles up some of my friends and, there you go, instant debate, ready-made
argument.
But I've tried to make
it my personal policy to not have the last word in these animated discussions –
even when I think I could make a cogent point or that I could correct someone’s
mistake. I might respond once or twice, but instead of trying to make sure that
I have the final (and therefore victorious) word) I try to let it go. I try to lose. I don’t want to be that guy who’s up all
night because “someone on the internet is wrong.”
Admittedly, however, it doesn't always go as planned. Sometimes,
after I've left what will be my final response, no one else says anything more –
and I’m stuck with the final
word. Or, sometimes, I forget myself and
get more involved than I had intended.
But still. I’m trying to lose.
But still. I’m trying to lose.
It is an honor for a
man to keep aloof from strife, but every fool will be quarreling. – Proverbs 20:
3
(and, please understand, I am not calling my friends fools. I am trying to avoid being the fool.)
(and, please understand, I am not calling my friends fools. I am trying to avoid being the fool.)
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