Many conversations today seem to devolve into a back and forth of two people trying to prove their respective points. But what if points didn’t need to be proven? What if they simply existed? They would already be valid to a degree simply by their existing.
I know evidence is necessary to heighten the validity of a point. But what if evidence was offered simply as that, evidence. Not with the expectation that it would change anyone’s mind.
In an exchange in which evidence was offered, and points discussed, without the need or expectation to change anyone’s mind a situation of potential learning would be created.
People would be listening to what was being offering, trusting that it was not being offered with the express intent of changing their minds. Their defenses would be lower, their curiosity higher, their engagement more. But we can’t go into the exchange expecting to prove anything.
It’s sharing. Offering. Making space for questions. No manipulation. Let the point and whatever evidence we have speak for itself.