Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibnitz (ur yeasayer)
There are many oppositions in nature and society. Cold, hot,
Marx, Smith, Jung, Freud and then combinations of the two which occur in the
pragmatic manifestations of human personality. One of these is the famous
dichotomy between those who fold their toilet paper and those who crumple.
Sometimes these oppositions complement each other as in the case of the passive
aggressive who finds an uneasy truce—in love/and or marriage-- with their
purely aggressive counterpart. Then there are the yeasayers and the naysayers.
You know the yeasayer. He or she constantly nods approval at everything you
say. The naysayer does just the reverse. The naysayer always has a quizzical
look on his or her face. Nothing you're saying makes sense. The yeasayer
movers his or head vertically up and down while the naysayer moves horizontally
from side to side. Both have the same
thing in common. The cynicism of the naysayer may be more annoying, but
neither the naysayer nor the yeasayer are
truly listening. The naysayer is a constant gadfly who's opposed to literally
everything. It’s the only way they can avoid being sucked in by the abyss of the other. On the other side of fence, the
yeasayer can’t bear being lost and forgotten forever. He or she is a survivor hanging on to his or her positive affect for fear of drowning or separation from the mother ship. He or she will even nod in agreement as you
declare that all yea-sayers should be dropped into pots of boiling oil.
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A great blog post. I love the line "the famous dichotomy between those who fold their toilet paper and those who crumple."
ReplyDeleteA friend of mine says that we need to stop reacting and start responding, by which I think she means that the ego-bound knee-jerk of yea- or nay-saying can be replaced with paying attention and responding appropriately and genuinely. It is something I aspire to, but my cynical and suspicious nature is constantly kicking the feet out from under my better self.
A good meditation for the day. Thank you.