Premise

It may happen that, while you’re eating ice cream, or waiting to finally fall asleep, or even while you’re listening to someone, that an idea might come up. Usually we let it go, free and extra-vagrant …
But sometimes, sometimes we become infatuated with it. It seems to have become something important to our way of being. And precisely because this infatuation can be taken for love, it becomes possible to embrace the folly that “we are that idea.”
Not always, fear comes to our aid. The fear of having become ridiculous, of taking ourselves too seriously. And at the same time we do not want to be cynical.

I want to submit to you the transcript of a dialogue that I heard a few nights ago. I think it has something to do with this premise.

A – I’m convinced that it’s important to re-live situations. It’s like seeing the same thing from another point of view, seeing different facets. It enriches our way of thinking. Sure it doesn’t give us any assurance, not on what we thought before, nor on what we think now, neither on any possible synthesis. However, right now, with nothing to refute it, this is my firm opinion.

B – You’re too attached to the past, live the present, you’re standing still!

A – Hahahaha … Look, everytihng I’ve said is made to be contradicted. I wanted your opinion on the difficulties of interpretation and the need for action.

B – I cannot follow you. I’m of a different opinion. You have to live the moment, the spirit of the times. And remember that my opinion is as good as yours.

A – Methodologically it is certain that your opinion is as worthy as mine, but precisely because we evaluate a situation, we’re giving a value to what we say. If the value of opinions was identical, we would be, from a substantive point of view, rejecting the debate, the discussion. If we give the same value to all opinions, we would not have any reasoned choice. There wouldn’t even be a relationship between us.

B – Ha, so, if someone doesn’t think like you, there’s no use in talking …

A – Well … all right … we understand each other!

Published: Aug. 13, 2016

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