lunatechian (lunatech-ian)

I have been thinking that sometimes personalities of the speaker affects the way I perceive his ideas. i.e. if the speaker has a pleasant personality, and presents his ideas with a calm demur, I will be more agreeable with his point of view and I will take in his evidence with an open mind. However, if the speaker is unpleasant or if he is not calm and confident while presenting his ideas, I sometimes dismiss his ideas and evidence as unworthy of my attention.

I think I might have found a workaround for this issue. Whenever I find myself strongly agreeing or strongly disagreeing with someone's ideas, I would do a "vice-versa" on the speaker's personality and see if I still agree with the evidence. What this means is, if I find myself strongly agreeing with someone, I will imagine him presenting his facts and ideas at the top of his voice or in a very shaky voice. Similarly, if I find myself strongly disagreeing with someone's ideas, I will imagine him talking in a calm manner and in a strong voice.

The idea here is to try and subtract out the effect of personalities when listening to new theories and ideas.

This image really touched me. In my mind's eye, I can see the image of a dog waiting for his end and looking around to find someone he trusts to console him and not finding him there for him. If I had a pet and if I had to euthanize him, I would have left the room too, as it would have been hard for me. However, after seeing this pic, I am sure I will not leave. I am a great believer in keeping trust and "being there" for family, friends and people who trust me. Leaving the pet alone when he is about to die would be a selfish decision and a breaking of the trust a pet has for his owner.