Opinions vs Offence

Hey Siri, define opinion. A view or judgement formed about something, not necessarily based on fact or knowledge. Alexa, define offense. A view or judgement formed about something, not necessarily based on fact or knowledge. Just by reading those four sentences you've already reached an opinion, whether this be you prefer Siri over Alexa, Alexa over Siri or you like / dislike both. To some it may even cause offence.

In todays world, I'd say more so since the global pandemic that was COVID-19, peoples mindset appears to have shifted from one side of the room to the other or a completely different room altogether. For me there was no gradual change, no evolution as such; it was almost instant. I believe now the mindset can be, if you don't agree with me you're wrong and that offends me. Note this is not applicable to everyone but with the availability of publishing your thoughts and feelings (like I am now) to the whole world at the click of a button, it has become far to efficient to do so without much thought, other than to just put your point across. There's a quote which I try and apply daily:

The biggest communication problem is we do not listen to understand, we listen to reply.

It's a hard thing to do, to almost put your response to one side and actually take on board what the other person is saying, digest it, try and understand it further and then reply accordingly with your views and opinions in relation to theirs, to hopefully reach a mutual ground or understanding. This is the key ingredient I believe some people are missing today, and instead choose to take offence. One of my favourite comedians Ricky Gervais, sums this up for me perfectly. And whether you appreciate his comedy and script writing or not, I certainly believe we can all learn from him and if we were to apply this, then in my opinion the world would be a better place.

For me, opinions are great and the more of these I get to hear in my lifetime the better, it broadens my knowledge, perception and understanding as to how others around think, see and feel. Whether I agree with these opinions is a whole different subject altogether and even if I disagree, I want to know more as I may learn something. I'm sure there are key moments in our lives that have changed us or our opinions, hopefully for the better and it's these moments where we grow and have a better understanding of those around us.

In my opinion, and this is only my opinion, please don't take offence. The more open we are to hearing what people have to say and understanding their point of view, whether we agree or disagree, the happier, healthier and more engaging the world and more importantly your world becomes. What are your thoughts?