The Power of Agreement.

Several years ago my son told me a story about a man searching for wisdom and happiness. He travelled the world searching until he was told of the wisest person, a hermit living in a cave high in the mountains. He made the harsh journey and asked his question. The hermit said the answer was to agree with everyone you meet. The man became angry saying that was a ridiculous answer, to which the hermit replied, “Yes, I see that it is.” Funny, yes, but thought provoking. It came to mind after seeing a snippet of Nigel Farrago and Russell Brand on Question Time that eschewed agreement at all costs. When one looks at one’s mind’s fluidity disagreement produces a gridlock of some entrenched position, one is reduced to continually rehearsing a dialogue with oneself. One instinctively feels any sign of agreement would be used to create a weakness in one’s defences, but alone in a castle one cannot find happiness or wisdom. Agreement though is not being beaten in an intellectual battle it’s an incremental step in awareness. When ‘the map is not the territory’ no one of us sees the territory only our map of it and finding some agreement with another person might well put a little extra detail to it. That’s not to say agreement is acceptance. If one simply accepted another’s opinion one would only join in a possible mutual error. True agreement is a willingness to find one’s mind’s fluidity and thus continue one’s journey towards wisdom and happiness. Nigel Farrago and Russell Brand did not move forward in this respect, yet I found some agreement with both of them. Does that make me wise? If you say no it’s likely I’ll agree with you.