Guest guest Posted October 24, 2001 Report Share Posted October 24, 2001 Hi everyone, This quote landed in my in-box today: "He who can see both sides of an argument is missing something." Idries Shah, 20th Century Sufi Can anyone explain? I can see there more sides to an argument than two (probably an infinite number of sides), but I'm not sure whether that's what he meant. gill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 24, 2001 Report Share Posted October 24, 2001 On 10/24/01 at 5:00 PM Gill Collingwood wrote: ºHi everyone, º ºThis quote landed in my in-box today: º º"He who can see both sides of an argument º is missing something." º Idries Shah, 20th Century Sufi º ºCan anyone explain? I can see there more sides to an argument ºthan two (probably an infinite number of sides), but I'm not sure ºwhether that's what he meant. º ºgill Any argument is but arbitrary - a situation can arise for both sides to forget it (at least temporarily) and act as if it doesn't exist. (Not sure if that was meant with the quote either - nice guessing game btw) Jan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 24, 2001 Report Share Posted October 24, 2001 jb, Jan & Friends, º"He who can see both sides of an argument º is missing something." º Idries Shah, 20th Century Sufi Perhaps, what our learned friend was refering to was the lack of an 'intuitive'or apparently self generative answer to the argument? In other words, maybe he was refering to the absence in this case of 'wisdom'or viveka, even though rationality, or intelligence, was in abundant supply. yours in the bonds, eric , "jb" <kvy9@l...> wrote: > On 10/24/01 at 5:00 PM Gill Collingwood wrote: > > ºHi everyone, > º > ºThis quote landed in my in-box today: > º > º"He who can see both sides of an argument > º is missing something." > º Idries Shah, 20th Century Sufi > º > ºCan anyone explain? I can see there more sides to an argument > ºthan two (probably an infinite number of sides), but I'm not sure > ºwhether that's what he meant. > º > ºgill > > Any argument is but arbitrary - a situation can arise for both sides > to forget it (at least temporarily) and act as if it doesn't exist. > (Not sure if that was meant with the quote either - nice guessing game btw) > > Jan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 24, 2001 Report Share Posted October 24, 2001 , "Gill Collingwood" <gill@n...> wrote: > Hi everyone, > > This quote landed in my in-box today: > > "He who can see both sides of an argument > is missing something." > Idries Shah, 20th Century Sufi > > Can anyone explain? I can see there more sides to an argument > than two (probably an infinite number of sides), but I'm not sure > whether that's what he meant. > > gill (Jan, you're right... fun game!) I used to observe people arguing to see what I could learn from these observations. In every instance, it became obvious that they were in complete agreement, but because they were using different symbols/words to make their points, it turned into an argument. It was like observing two people talking different languages and misinterpreting what each other said. Therefore, I say what is missing is the interpreter to tell them there is no argument! :-) Great to see you back Gill! Also, welcome back my good buddy Dee! Love,xxxtg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 24, 2001 Report Share Posted October 24, 2001 jb wrote: On 10/24/01 at 5:00 PM Gill Collingwood wrote: ºHi everyone, º ºThis quote landed in my in-box today: º º"He who can see both sides of an argument º is missing something." º Idries Shah, 20th Century Sufi º ºCan anyone explain? Commitment Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 25, 2001 Report Share Posted October 25, 2001 Thanks, Eric, Jan, Mace and teegee, for your responses. Food for thought! Really, the quote is so vague it could mean a million different things... (Which may be what he intended! A self- demonstrating statement! LOL!) Teegee, it's great to see you again, too! I was feeling a bit nervous about coming out of the woodwork and saying 'hi'; knowing you were here helped a lot. love, gill ps Eric, can I have your bonds if you don't want them? I keep forgetting where I put mine... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 26, 2001 Report Share Posted October 26, 2001 Hi Gill and friends, Re the quote: "He who can see both sides of an argument is missing something." Idries Shah, 20th Century Sufi I feel that quote can be undestood by distinguishing two aspects of 'Attention'. * There is attention with intention (in-tension) where there is 'one' who is attending which is the case in this quote - there is 'he' who is seeing both sides of an argument. * There is attention which is innocent where there is no one that is attending. In this way we see that what the 'he' in the quote is missing is his own involvement. This is closely related to what Eric said about intellect and intuition. And, Mace's committment comes from the clear seeing of the situation - when there is innocent attention the situation offers its own solution. Love to All, james , "Gill Collingwood" <gill@n...> wrote: > Thanks, Eric, Jan, Mace and teegee, for your responses. Food for > thought! Really, the quote is so vague it could mean a million > different things... (Which may be what he intended! A self- > demonstrating statement! LOL!) > > Teegee, it's great to see you again, too! I was feeling a bit nervous > about coming out of the woodwork and saying 'hi'; knowing you > were here helped a lot. > > love, > gill > ps Eric, can I have your bonds if you don't want them? I keep > forgetting where I put mine... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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