We often see people arguing about - who the best actor, footballer, or politician is; what's the best religion; how their ideas or suggestions are better than that of others; why the information they have is more accurate, etc. Most of the time, the sheer lack of knowledge, facts, logical reasoning, evidence, and maturity leads to such arguments.
These arguments only lead to strained personal or professional relationships, lack of cooperation and collaboration; and affect your productivity and efficiency. Hence, you should either avoid or settle them. All you need to do is just agree to disagree to resolve conflicts.
When you agree to disagree you accept the fact that -
No one is going to force others to change their mind.
Everyone has an opinion of their own, which can simply be based on their personal experiences, preferences, biases, and emotions. That's why people have varying opinions.
Everyone holds the right to question others' logic and ask for facts or evidence; without which arguments are purely baseless.
Like Hitchens said,
“What can be asserted without evidence can also be dismissed without evidence."
If you do this, you will -
begin to have fewer arguments.
be in mature and responsible personal and professional relationships.
remain friends with your friends or colleagues with different opinions.
focus more on collaborating and finding solutions than mere arguments.
save a lot of time and energy and become more efficient.
All of this will aid your personal and professional growth.
Next time, think before arguing. Reflect upon arguments and check if they were necessary in the first place. You will certainly find peace. Your home, workplace, and the entire world will be a better place if you agree to disagree to resolve conflicts.
Now you must give this a try: Remember the last time you argued with someone? What was it about? Was it resolved or not? Was there a need for an argument or you could have simply agreed to disagree?
We'd love to know your experiences of agreeing to disagree. Feel free to share them in the comments below.
Sawan is a Learning/Training consultant with over thirteen years of rich experience in training. He has been associated with companies like Amazon, Various Multinational and Domestic Companies, Leading Training Organizations, and prestigious Educational Institutes. He is a go-to person for setting up and leading training teams, managing training programs, and creating and curating content for online and offline learning. He is passionate about helping companies revive their training interventions and enable their workforce to achieve business goals.