The key to ending conflict and restoring cooperation
Each person has opinions about how life should be and the way things are. These opinions can be very different. They can also be very helpful. Different opinions can be a source of new ideas and possibility. The problem comes when we try to force our opinions on someone else.
We tend to attack any opinion that conflicts with our own. This is especially true if the opinion is perceived as a threat. To avoid this threat, we fight what the person is saying. We think that this will somehow change the person’s point of view, but it doesn’t.
Fighting a point of view doesn’t make it go away. Fighting a point of view gives it more power. It also makes the person defensive and forces the person to fight back. Then we get upset and fight the person even more. Without knowing, we create a cycle of conflict that brings out the worst in everyone.
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