How many " shades of grey" ?

I seem to differ from many in that the older I get the more I can see that things are not black or white in most cases. Maybe I now have time to think more and explore my thoughts.
So many shades of grey but luckily lots of colour in my life too.

Ah yes! I should have saild that colours of all sorts are part of my experience too..but in debates and principles etc. more monochrome

Many shades of grey here, in fact sometimes it is hard not to be distracted by the variety.

Usually happy to hear and debate with others, as long as there is mutual respect.

It's an interesting question PECS, I suspect my desire to see many sides of a situation is one of the factors that pushed me into the work I did. 40 plus years of working with children and families, with adults who had m.h. or psychological difficulties increased my desire to understand and see things from more than one perspective.
I do have certain blocks though. Cruelty to children or animals are issues I find increasingly distressing and totally fail to understand.

Similar here Iam re work..though from a different position. Meeting such a huge range of people from a great variety of life experiences has broadened my horizons since leaving home as the naive 18 yr old brought up in a warm, stable and loving " middle class" dual heritage suburban home.

I believe in tolerance and compromise, so I suppose those are shades of grey?

I can always see both sides of any arguement or problem. Sometimes it annoys me that I am not more definite in my views.

plus, Ive been very fortunate in recent years to travel more widely. That old saying that 'travel broadens the mind' has proved the case for me. Also, for the young people I know who did the gap year/working abroad thing and travelled widely. That encouraged and enabled them to see things from wider viewpoints.

I can usually see the validity in a range of views on most subjects and enjoy reasoned debate. It is therefore a bit frustrating to be married to a pretty much black and white kind of man.

I like reading all the views on gransnet and have begun in a small way putting in my two pennorthworths on some threads.

I have noticed though that sometimes it degenerates into a bit of a bun fight but on the whole lots of interesting people on here who offer a range of views on all sorts of subjects.

Seeing both sides of everything is the bane of my life. I know where I stand on lots of things but can still see where others are coming from. Brexit being a prime example. I can see the arguments for having/not having a 'people's vote', I get cross with people who blame people who voted us out but can see their point of view.

It could be seen as being easily swayed, I suppose.

My DH is often very black and white too 52bright and I sometimes get accused of arguing with him when all I'm actually doing is being 'fair'.

Oh I dearly wish I could be more of a black and white person.

I think I know my position on a subject, then I listen and read more on it. Consequently I change my mind.

Life is never black and white, changes etc. can be beneficial to all concerned.

One thing though everyone is entitled to air their opinion, only wish it could always be done in a polite way without the need to resort to bad language or haranguing someone who does not agree with you.

“No point having a mind if you can’t change it”. I hope I’m open minded and ready to be informed.

MacCavity. I agree that we should always be open to changing opinion in the light of new or better information/ experience. On the other hand I do not want to be sitting on the fence all the time dithering!

Iam64 I agree broad experience & travel is helpful in seeing life from others' perspectives. I lived overseas as a child, saw huge poverty, great kindness as well as inhumanity all in a different context to UK life. I think it is also to do with our upbringing & family experience.
As the song says, You have to be taught to hate.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAZ8yOFFbAc

I think ( on the whole) that women do see different sides to a situation or viewpoint ( men, not so much.)
However, that doesn’t mean we have to agree to the opposite of what we really think, because we see and understand another viewpoint.We can consider it, and either reject it or allow it to influence us as we think fit.
There are many shades of grey out there.

PECS I’ve got splinters from a life time of sitting on the fence and mud up to my arm pits form the odd occasion I’ve jumped down. ?

Lemongrove indeed that is true for many things but sometimes unexpected, not previously encountered stituations/discussions arise or new evidence comes to light..I have an instant 'gut' response then step back, listen to what others are saying, try out my own thoughts, modify, rethink , go round and about, look something up , talk to someone else and then maybe end up back where I started or somewhere else!

MacCavity Ouch! at least mud is a relatively soft landing
I am a natural negotiater/peacemaker in many situations and can usually find a compromise in personal situations.

Yes, all that goes without saying PECS and is part of the process of thought, nothing should be stuck to purely on gut instinct.

Grey alert! you say 2all that goes without saying" but on forums I often encounter very instant and fixed opinions, that often appear to be based on out dated information or experience or 'gut instinct' . Posters churn out the same opinion over and over ..just in a different context and seem so certain of their opinion!

I'm quite fixed in my opinions, I think.
I'm rarely swayed, but that's because I think my opinions are right in the first place.

MissA But you are not sure.. you only think you are sure! Maybe room for a bit of grey!

Yes, a bit of grey, but I get angry at people who argue one way one minute then do a complete about turn, depending on what's a popular opinion of that time.

PECS....on forums you ( and I !) will encounter all sorts,
Fixed opinions often being the least offensive things.
All opinions should be about more than gut feelings which is why I said ‘it goes without saying’.
Hopefully some intelligent thought will have gone into posters opinions as well as the many things all around us such as tv radio newspapers social media and friends etc.
Since we are all wildly different people on GN or any forum,
It’s to be expected that opinions will also vary wildly.
What I do dislike on GN though are posters who take a superior tone with others, more or less telling them that their posts are not ‘intelligent’ enough, it’s unkind and patronising.