Learning To Value The Opinions Of Others

It is not always easy to appreciate the opinions of others. This is because when they are completely different from ours, we usually prioritize our own way of seeing. This can lead us to become uncompromising people and refuse to analyze how others perceive reality. Instead of enriching ourselves, we become impoverished.

If we act like this, it’s (even if we say it isn’t) because we always like to be right. As a quote from a Spanish article on the ‘Relationship between two concepts: information, knowledge and value’ says: “ You can only be right if you run the risk of being wrong. ”

So to open our eyes to this widespread attitude, today we’re going to look at a story that will help us appreciate the opinions of others. Opinions that arise from the knowledge arising from their own individual backgrounds. If you read it with an open mind, you will surely benefit from it.

The Story of the Six Blind Sages and the Elephant

There were once six wise men who lived in a small village. All six were blind. One day someone took an elephant to the village. Faced with such a situation , the six men looked for ways to know what an elephant would be like, because they could not see it.

“I know,” said one of them. “Let’s touch him.”

“That’s a good idea,” said the others. “That way we will know for sure what an elephant is like.”

So the first wise man felt one of the elephant’s large ears. He touched it slowly, back and forth.

“The elephant is like a great fan,”  said the first sage.

The second sage, feeling the elephant’s legs, exclaimed: “He is like a tree! ”

“You are both wrong,” said the third sage, after examining the elephant’s tail. “The elephant is like a rope! ”

The fourth man, feeling the elephant’s tusks, suddenly roared: “The elephant is like a spear! ”

“No no!” cried the fifth sage, who had touched the side of the elephant. “He is like a high wall. ”

The sixth sage took his turn and, holding the elephant’s trunk with his hand, said: “You are all wrong, the elephant is like a snake. ”

“No, no, like a rope.”

“A snake.”

“Definitely a wall”.

“You got it wrong.”

“I’m fine.”

“Not really.”

The six men argued for hours, never agreeing on what the elephant was like.

To appreciate the opinions of others, you have to listen

Something that we can clearly see from this story is that to appreciate the opinions of others, you have to learn to listen. The six wise men in the story did not listen to what their friends said, they only confirmed what they had felt with their own hands. And that was just a guess.

In the end, none of them came close to what an elephant really is, but despite that, they fiercely defended their own opinion. While this may seem absurd, it often happens.

Of course, they were all partially right based on what they had observed themselves. However, none of them came close to reality. And worst of all, none of them could appreciate the opinion of the others.

How can this story help us? The next time you hear a different opinion than yours, we suggest you try to see the situation from the other person’s perspective. To do that it is essential to listen, ask questions if there is something you do not understand and also to express your own opinion.

Perceiving reality in a different way

This does not mean that others cannot be wrong. However, we will learn to realize that each person experiences reality differently. Everyone’s opinion contains some truth.

Such as the article ‘The search for truth or reality: an approach based on sociological theory’ and Plato, with his Allegory of the Cave, show that there can be different interpretations of the same reality.

Influenced by our experiences, values ​​and beliefs, our way of seeing reality can differ greatly from that of others. But does this mean that some are true and others are not? Not at all.

Therefore, valuing the opinions of others will allow us to enrich our lives instead of impoverishing it by always defending our own way of seeing things. Just as we have seen in the story of the elephant and the six wise men, our opinion may not be as correct as we think.