If you’re familiar with The Objective Believer, you may have witnessed the following:

 

Someone in the comments section issues a criticism of my content. Regardless of the nature of the criticism, I respond with, “If I said something untrue, please provide the quote”

 

—-The majority of the time, the discussion will end without ever proceeding beyond this point. 

 

This is by design. 

 

The methodology was developed and honed through countless debates spanning multiple decades and serves two primary objectives:

 

1.Identify and remove any falsehoods that could possibly be in the content.—-hence the reason for the question “what did I say that is untrue?” 

 

And . . . 

 

2. Identify and avoid areas of disagreement that--due to their subjective nature—tend to inherently lack resolution. 

 

Here’s How it works

 

I am extremely meticulous about the way I structure my statements within my content. There is a reason I say the things I say, in the exact way that I say them. By asking someone to quote me, it forces them to interact with those statements as opposed to an impression they may have gotten from them. This alone eliminates anywhere from eighty to ninety percent of needless discussions, because obviously, I can only answer for the former. 

 

Furthermore, if you think about it, once it’s established that a statement is true, the only thing really left for people to criticize is the context in which that statement emerges. Someone, somewhere will inevitably claim that certain elements of what you said should have been omitted. Others will claim elements should have been included. And still, others will insist that none of what was said is relevant to the subject at hand and therefore should not have been said at all. And while all of these can be and will be argued—-you’re not going to find any kind of authority or consensus regarding them.

 

For this reason, they will always lack resolution and remain up for debate. I’ve found that you may as well be arguing one’s favorite sport’s team, or favorite food. 

 

As the author of the content, all I can do is share the truths and information that I believe are important to the subject at hand, and invite others to contribute the same.