All my posts: https://learn1.open.ac.uk/mod/oublog/view.php?u=zw219551
or search for 'martin cadwell -caldwell' Take note of the position of the minus sign to eliminate caldwell returns or search for 'martin cadwell blog' in your browser.
I am not on YouTube or social media
mental health issues and consideration
[ 3 minute read ]
Don't Wobble
In sitting just sit, in standing just stand; above all don't wobble.
This post has been rewritten at 16:40 on Saturday 6th December 2025 because its original edit (Tuesday 2 December 2025 at 06:19), I believe, has been considered to be directed at a single individual. It was never my intention to do so and further sensitive research has revealed that the previous edit could be construed as purposely disruptive by an individual. I apologise if any person or persons found, or still find, my words upsetting.
I have cut and pasted the original edit and comments and attached it in order that the comment can still be read as I believe the comment has some validity to it as an example of how reason has given way to emotion and harmful intent. This now means that the commentator will not be able to delete their comment. However, I shall edit this post again and remove the attachment if the commentator wishes to withdraw their comment (and their request for this to happen).
mental health issues – consideration for others
I find it interesting that there are people who believe that theirs is the only opinion with any validity. The force of some of these people's opinions can be so strong that they themselves unquestionably believe it is the only possible truth. It is a closed-loop scenario. They seem to confirm their own bias. How do we show these people their error? Befriend them?
I suggest that some people are victims of their own fabrication. Something went wrong somewhere and no-one was there to help out, so the victim was left to figure things out for themselves. The problem, as I see it, is that without all the important information to hand a perfectly feasible opinion can still be reached that is absent of any consideration of others, simply because no-one was around to be considered. It only takes a series of these opinions to become heuristics and we have a personality that they may eshew, yet cannot rid themselves of.
Sometimes, it is difficult to have a simple discussion with someone who will not brook any deviance from their chosen beliefs, quite simply, I suspect, because even the idea that there is an error in their thinking will bring their self-belief crashing down and their carefully constructed safe-house of reasoning, their very existence, will be destroyed. This is, I suggest, a person who is terrified of being wrong. Aren’t we all? Most of us will even lie to cover up our mistakes. Perhaps we should try to understand how an amelioration of any conflict can be initiated without careless allusion and intimation. I know I need lessons on this. So, please consider my statements here as a preliminary attempt at ironing out how I might understand how I can improve.
Initially, I thought, 'Who can reach this person?' and 'Who has the time?' I am not afraid of being wrong, only disgusted with myself because I know that recently I have not fully applied myself to reason. It is among the last sentences of the previous paragraph that gives me hope, 'This is a person who is terrified of being wrong.' I rather think that if this type of person realised that being wrong is normal and an excellent basis for understanding not only others, but also themselves, they would also discover that being wrong is a good position from which to consider something from a different perspective.
I have come across Further Education assignments wherein the content of an argument is less relevant than the thought process that precedes it. Some people will have a strong opinion on what the content should be and, because they may find discussion awkward, may prefer to follow a strategy of codified rules and declarative statements even when the purpose of an assignment is to encourage students to practice debate and offer opinion in a considered and respectful manner.
How can we reveal to strongly opinionated people that they have not seen the whole picture? Of course, we first have to recognise that we ourselves may not have a full grasp of a situation or can perceive the full scope of a subject. I think, secondly, we have to establish in our minds that our strategy or perception is suitable for translation and presentation to someone else. Indubitably, I feel, we might be wrong more often than we would like to believe ourselves capable of.
I wish I knew how to best achieve excellent conversation. But that reveals me to be less than I would like to be, or even believed myself to be, because it means that I am not inclined to spend enough time considering a problem to validate any opinion I may have. I shall have to shelve it for a while. I won't abandon my thoughts on this, though.