“Uh…hmmmm, no!” We are all thinking people. When you say, or think, the statement that any thinking person would agree, what you really mean, whether you realize it or not, is that any person who thinks exactly like you would agree. And the population that thinks exactly like you think is a teeny, tiny population of one.
We are all thinking people. But we don’t all think alike, even if we share some of the same thoughts. There is no “right” way to think. There is no “right” thought. We all have opinions, some are based on facts, others are mere fancy. We embrace individualized absolutes. We experience our own unique reality. We get into trouble when we project our absolutes, or our personal experience of reality based solely on our perspective onto others; as if there exists an absolute experience, and it’s the “right” one.
The problem is, this kind of thinking leads us down the primrose path to shoulds. And shoulds lead us away from individual interest and perspective to a “Universal Ought To” and to diametrically opposed positions. Taking positions separate us and push us farther into polarization. We become more disconnected from one another and entrenched in our new found stance and thoughts. We are forced to the opposite corners of the two sides of what is now a divisive issue. And, in my opinion, that’s too bad.