the random thought thread

[Vuk]

I frankly must reject the idea that a world where everybody confronts each other over every difference could possibly be world free of conflict.

I did not say every difference though, I said the important ones that divide us. And I did not say confront each other, I said confront the differences.
Let me give you an example. A mate of mine and I where I worked found out that we had big differences. He loved to play loud (and frankly, obnoxious) music when we worked, and it drove me crazy, but he could not work without it. I decided to be positive and not say anything, but it got so bad that one day when it was really hot out and I was ed because of something that had happened to me earlier in the day, I snapped at him and asked him to turn his music down. He turned it off and we went on working. For the next few days we worked side-by-side and he did not play his music at all, but there was a lot of tension in the air. I finally got up the nerve to apologize, and this time he snapped at me. :P Finally one day we sat down and talked about it, and I explained to him why it aggrevated me so much, and that I did not mean to make him angry. In the end we ended up making a CD with a mix of songs that each of us liked. :P

(I know it may sound silly getting that angry over music, but when you are out there digging in 90 degree weather all day offensive music can really work on you, esp after you have been subjected to it for days)

EDIT: and I think you are missing another point that some differences are such that they are impossible to ignore, because as long as they exist, they will keep driving people apart. Think of it this way, I am a really nice guy to be around, and really friendly, but I got this belief that everyone is destine to die and it is my job to make sure it happens. You could ignore that and focus on the positive, but seriously, as long as I am alive/still hold that belief, I am gonna kill people/try to kill people, and make peaceful living impossible.