DIFFERENCE OF OPINION
Path Towards Intellectual Development
EVELYN BEATRICE HALL (1868-1956) was an English writer. In her book, ‘The Friends of Voltaire’, Hall wrote, “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to death your right to say it”. Though Hall said this as an illustration of Voltaire’s beliefs, this quotation is often misattributed to Voltaire himself.
The concept of freedom of opinion was born in the era of democracy. But now, it is a universal norm which has a general acceptance world over.
Before the advent of this concept, the world had not seen significant development in any field. Science and technology for instance were in a primitive state. The ushering in of this concept led to an era of technological and industrial revolution, which culminated in the present-day modern civilization.
Freedom of opinion is another name for collective thinking. In earlier times, thinking was the monopoly of a privileged few and the art of thinking was in its premature stages. Due to this monopoly, the art of thinking did not progress. But when thinking gained freedom, an era of advancement and innovation began. This was because every individual could now share one’s ideas with others without any reservation. Any person could engage in an open discussion with any other individual, without any kind of fear.
Lending a patient audience to a dissenting opinion is equivalent to enriching one’s own thought process. This habit inculcates broad-mindedness and boosts creativity.
As a result of this openness, for the first time in history, dissent became an undeniable right of every individual; exchange of ideas began in a free manner and eventually it led to a “thought explosion” in the world. Such a culture was ushered in the world where everyone began to say freely what one had to say and others began to listen to it without any bias.
The thought revolution was perhaps the biggest revolution in history which significantly changed our world and raised it to a different level of development.
In earlier times, the world stood for intellectual intolerance, the world today stands for intellectual tolerance. The biggest advantage of this development is that one person dispassionately listens to what the other person has to say because he knows that listening is not tantamount to acceptance.
Lending a patient audience to a dissenting opinion is equivalent to enriching one’s own thought process. This habit inculcates broadmindedness and boosts creativity. In the sense of intellectual development, it makes man, a superman! His mind becomes like a flowing river which never gets stagnant because of influx of fresh thoughts. Such a mind constantly renews its thinking process and keeps on developing! It may become old physically but it never succumbs to the process of ageing in the intellectual sense— the thoughts always remain young and fresh!
It may seem difficult to listen to a dissenting opinion when one is not in agreement with it. But one who can develop this intellectual skill shall certainly, emerge as an intellectual giant.
It may seem difficult to listen to a dissenting opinion when one is not in agreement with it. But one who can develop this intellectual skill shall certainly, after going through this process, emerge as an intellectual giant!
Team Work
Team work requires sacrifice. Be patient
with one another, put other's needs
before your own, think of the good of
others rather than what you desire.