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RuleAttested · Zhuangzi

Equalizing perspectives

What is "this" for one is "that" for another: before you decide, let the other side speak.

Inspired by Zhuangzi's "On the Equality of Things" (Qiwulun): our judgments of true and false depend on the standpoint from which we pronounce them, and each side holds its own as self-evident. The rule is, in the heat of a dispute, to voice the matter yourself from the opposing position, then from a wider standpoint, so as to loosen the fixation on your single angle. Today it helps you step out of sterile oppositions and judge with more suppleness.

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Source: Zhuangzi