Tired of having your Ideals Challenged?

Evo you are completly wrong!
It's never stupid to challenge authority.The only good reason is that authority is usually wrong.Science only moves foreward by challegeing and attitudes towards not questioning authority on any levell is ludite to say the least.

If you always go around challenging authority, then you are never unable to learn. If you never question authority, then you can never learn either.

If I was to challenge authority I would use the word able.

It's never stupid to challenge authority.

Like most topics, I feel each of us has a different view of what "Challenging Authority" and "Questioning Authority" means, and we are probably misunderstanding each other greatly.

Like most topics, I feel each of us has a different view of what "Challenging Authority" and "Questioning Authority" means, and we are probably misunderstanding each other greatly.

Is this like some type of Luciferian disorder to dissent against authoritative and controlling beings?

Rudeness

"Rudeness is the weak man's imitation of strength."

~ Eric Hoffer

These days, when so much attention is being paid to bullying in school, as well as, dealing with difficult people in the workplace and at home, I suggest we take this opportunity to reexamine the concept of rudeness by way of a quote by philosopher Eric Hoffer. What I love about this quote (although I would change it to read, "the weak person's imitation of strength" because we know that rudeness isn't limited to a specific gender) is that it allows us to see beneath the bluff and bluster of rudeness to what is really driving this sort of behavior, weakness and fear. And at the same time, it allows us to examine its opposite, strength and confidence.

In fact, I believe that this labeling of rudeness as "the weak man's imitation of strength" is one of the best ways to look at, and then deal with this type of behavior. For example, if we were to examine how most people react to rudeness, we would very likely see some version of a fight or flight reaction. People tend to either feel threatened and pull back, or "fight fire with fire" and become rude themselves. Unfortunately, neither of these reactions is particularly effective. When we pull back, the rude person feels more powerful while we feel powerless. In a sense, they are rewarded for their rude behavior because it has had the desired effect. On the other hand, reacting by becoming rude ourselves rarely works because they then see us as the difficult person and begin to defend the very behavior we want them to change.

Of course, for those of you who are familiar with my "Top of the Mind" philosophy, you know that any fight or flight behavior comes from the lower 20% of the brain and is almost always reactive in nature. This is certainly the case with rudeness. People who are rude to others often fear rejection or at the very least expect that others won't like them and/or won't see what they have to say as valuable. Therefore, when we can see the person who is being rude as "frightened" versus "mean, obnoxious," and/or "a bully," we minimize the negative effect they have in our lives. Plus, we access the clear, confident, and compassionate part of who we are (which means we are accessing the upper 80% of our brain).

There is a quote I use in almost all of my seminars that says: "Resentment is like taking poison and waiting for the other person to die" (by Malachy McCourt). Most people would agree that resentment is a very common reaction to people who are being rude, and yet, I am confident that most people would also agree that this reaction rarely results in any sort of satisfactory outcome. In fact, what often happens is that we continue to run the problematic interaction over and over in our minds and thus continue to "poison" our system with stress-related hormones. The quote that follows this "resentment/poison" perspective very nicely is "Compassion is the antitoxin of the soul. Where there is compassion, even the most poisonous impulses become relatively harmless." (also by Eric Hoffer). Therefore, if resentment is the poison, compassion is the anti-toxin and thus can allow us to detoxify any reaction we have to anyone who is being rude.

In order to have this sort of power, however, we must be able to access the clear, confident, creative part of our brain and change our interpretation of other's rude behavior from problematic, annoying, and intimidating to weak and frightened. This shift in perspective then allows us to access the sort of compassion that will give us the strength to continue on free from the effect of fear and anxiety.

In fact, given all this information, we could change the quote to "Rudeness is the frightened person's reaction to their fear of rejection." Not only does this come closer to the truth, it keeps us from responding to rudeness with a pejorative judgement of our own. Instead, we can access our compassion which we now know is an antidote or "anti-toxin of the soul" and move into life free of the poison of resentment.

Take care and God bless, Dr. Bill

However much we guard ourselves against it, we tend to shape ourselves in the image others have of us. It is not so much the example of others we imitate, as the reflection of ourselves in their eyes and the echo of ourselves in their words.

Copilot: "God, look at that thing. That don't seem right, does it? Uh, that's not right."
Pilot: "Yes it is, there's eighty."
Copilot: "Naw, I don't think that's right. Ah, maybe it is."

Andre's example of the Tenerife airport disaster reminds me of another air crash involving a challenge to authority (or lack of challenge). In the crash of Air Florida flight 90, the captain dismissed the copilots concern that an instrument panel indication was wrong, prompting the copilot (who was at the controls) to doubt his own judgement and continue with the takeoff roll.

Copilot: "God, look at that thing. That don't seem right, does it? Uh, that's not right."
Pilot: "Yes it is, there's eighty."
Copilot: "Naw, I don't think that's right. Ah, maybe it is."

Although the above transcripts seem to indicate an instrument failure as the cause of the crash, it was actually pilot error. They failed to switch on the ice protection systems prior to takeoff. However, had the copilot challenged the captains authority and aborted the take off (which he had time to do), the accident could have been avoided.

In such a situation you would be very much better off either taking a different approach, or simply not pushing the question once you realize they can't give you the answer you seek. This to me is not "challenging authority" so much as it is arguing with someone. They may happen to be in a position of authority, but that fact in itself doesn't mean you are challenging them. In my opinion at least.

Of course the old rule of "It's not what you say it's HOW you say it" still applies. You may be asking valid questions, but how you say it or when you ask may be considered as rude and inappropriate.

You seem to be unable to see a difference between "challenging authority" and "questioning authority".

For examples, when you are in scientific circles, there will always be authorities who know more than you and who have more experience than you. Do you always challenge them? Say that they are wrong? No, you listen to what they have to say and accept it. Of course, you should also think critically and judge whether their words were correct or not. Only if they were wrong, then you challenge them.

If you always go around challenging authority, then you are never able to learn. If you never question authority, then you can never learn either.

And authorities are usually wrong? Please. So that means that you consider most prominent math and physics textbooks to be usually wrong? Your parents are usually wrong? All of these are authorities.

We have to be very careful and respectful to get the best results from people.
Misunderstandings and misinformortion cause much harm.
The problem is challenging and questioning authority both overlap.It's sometimes hard to ask a question without being challenging.

Yes, if we go by dictionary definitions, the verb "question" would mean to ask, usually for clarification. The verb "challenge" would mean to dispute the truth or validity of something.

To members, lets not go off topic with specific examples of issues where there was confusion over something that was happening, that's not what the OP is referring to. We could go all over the place filling this thread with examples for and against decisions and outcomes.

Who knows? It's a matter of degree. How easily are you set off? How hard do you push? Do you feel a "need to win" ? Do others tell you to 'lighten up' ?

Here's another to ponder:
you might ask your 'authorities' how it is they perceive you.

old jim

I am an impolite person, by nature, don't blame me for my natural inquisitions, my innate curiosity. You wouldn't blame a person with down syndrome who couldn't tie their shoe could you? Why blame a person who is some what impolite?

I am an impolite person, by nature, don't blame me for my natural inquisitions, my innate curiosity. You wouldn't blame a person with down syndrome who couldn't tie their shoe could you? Why blame a person who is some what impolite?

Hmmm. We could go very deep into this subject, but I think it's fair to say that a person with down syndrome literally cannot comprehend tying a shoe. You however have a much much greater control over yourself. You just don't want to change. I assume you don't even see any reason to. This is very common. One of the absolute hardest things for a person to do is to change the way they think and act.

The fact that you even asked this question tells me that you either don't understand, or don't care about the way other people think. I don't think the issue here has anything to do with challenging authority, I think you're just a rude and impolite person who has never truly given a thought about how others feel and think. If so, then please realize that while difficult, changing yourself would greatly lessen any conflicts with people you may be having. If I am incorrect...then I'm incorrect. It is difficult to know for sure based on a few posts.

Really? No, I wouldn't blame a person with downs syndrome for not being able to tie their shoe.
I wouldn't because they may be incapable of doing so, but you can be polite as a sign of respect when with your peers. Its just common social protocol.

Tenshou, your questions are simply too broad for me to answer in a forum post. Entire books have been written on everything you're asking and I simply don't know enough to even begin to explain my opinions.