Heaven knows there is a lot we disagree about.
who is the greatest footballer of all time? Which football club is the best in the world? Try asking any of these questions in a room full of football fans. You will soon have an argument on your hands! Eventually, they may have to agree to disagree.
Wait. Agree to disagree? What does that actually mean?
Have you ever wondered... what it means to "agree to disagree"?
"Agree to disagree" or "agreeing to disagree" is a phrase referring to the resolution of a conflict (usually a debate or quarrel) whereby all parties tolerate but do not accept the opposing position. It means coming to an understanding with someone you disagree with and generally occurs when all sides recognize that further conflict would be unnecessary, ineffective, or otherwise undesirable. When we agree to disagree, we accept that neither of us is going to change the other’s mind - that’s when we stop arguing and move on!
Arguments happen all the time. Sometimes we call them quarrels. Often they might take the form of debates. Or they could simply be spirited discussions. Whatever you call them, differences of opinion happen all the time.
All people have opinions on many topics. Not all of those opinions are based on logic. People might form opinions based on emotion, preference, experience, or all sorts of other things. For that reason, people will often have differences of opinion. It doesn’t necessarily mean one person is right and the other person is wrong.
Agreeing to disagree - I don't agree to that?
Sometimes, disagreement about facts just leads to charged conflict between people.
The best response to this is to identify and clarify what the point at issue really is and to stay conscious of the fact that people are not their individual beliefs, and that it is alright to have been wrong about facts. If we can manage that, we can have disagreements without conflict.
But some people are not so principled. Much of the time, people simply want to bury the hatchet (which is perfectly well admirable, except that a genuine disagreement is really a lot more like a land mine than a hatchet in that regard).
So they resort to: "Let's agree to disagree."
It is obvious that people who say this don't think that it really settles the discussion - they want merely to avoid conflict. But it could be perceived as bad manners to individuals who feel interrupted by it - interrupting them to tell them that they can not and may not go on expressing themselves, lest they offend the holy rules of social grace and then satisfy the insane need of the un-argumentative to "keep everyone happy".
It's okay to disagree but not okay to disrespect.
Takeaway
All people have opinions on many topics. Disagreements will always happen!
Agreeing to disagree doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to give up your own opinion. On the contrary, you simply recognize others’ right to hold a different opinion. You can just agree not to argue about it!
When you agree to disagree, you develop peaceful relationships. You don’t have to let every disagreement or argument become a real problem. Agree to disagree.
This is fine when you’re debating the best flavor of ice cream, who is better between Messi and Ronald, or which Spiderman was the best. But if you have shared ownership over the implementation of a decision, agreeing to disagree isn’t going to work. That’s when you need to disagree and commit.
Over to you!
Do you often have to agree with everyone else?
Will a compromise be seen as a weakness and not a strength?
Is it better to move forward, or just stand on your principles, and never progress?
How can you respectfully disagree with someone?
Let's agree to disagree respectfully in the comments!
Remember to LIKE and share your thought in the comments.
The lead image is from thehindu.com
Reference/Sources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agree_to_disagree
https://www.wonderopolis.org/wonder/What-Does-It-Mean-To-Agree-To-Disagree
In short: I respect your opinion but I do not agree with what you say. That is my day to day, in my country opinions are VERY divided and in an almost radical way, especially in the political aspect, and this has flooded practically all aspects of life in general. Over time, being like this is quite exhausting, because neither side wants to give in or respect the other's position.