Only half-confinced people can explain anything

[mschrank]

I was reading “Orthodoxy” by Chesterton last week and he said something which got me thinking… he claimed that only the “half-convinced” could really explain anything, because only these people need to logically work through what they believe to be true.

To the totally convinced person, what he believes is plainly true and speaks for itself so there is not only no need to speak for it, but its quite difficult for that person. The most this person can do is say, “look at it! isn’t it obvious!”.

I think this can be applied to a lot of different things. Of course I’m sure some exceptions apply but “for the most part” as Aristotle used to say, it may very well be true.

Interesting thing to think about…

 

[davidv]

I was reading “Orthodoxy” by Chesterton last week and he said something which got me thinking… he claimed that only the “half-convinced” could really explain anything, because only these people need to logically work through what they believe to be true.

To the totally convinced person, what he believes is plainly true and speaks for itself so there is not only no need to speak for it, but its quite difficult for that person. The most this person can do is say, “look at it! isn’t it obvious!”.

I think this can be applied to a lot of different things. Of course I’m sure some exceptions apply but “for the most part” as Aristotle used to say, it may very well be true.

Interesting thing to think about…

If the one “totally convinced”, has the heart of a teacher, they will never respond to an inquirer with the phase you indicated. They will understand first where the inquirer is, then explain things in terms that the inquirer can understand.

 

[strngrnrth]

I have some experience trying to explain the obvious, to me, and it is very hard. It takes years of practice and thought. But it isn’t totally impossible

 

[Joe_Kelley]

This is why I find posts by RCIA participants so valuable. Seeing questions from their point of view enables me to explain things to my classes much better.

 

[Sideline]

I’m totally convinced that if I lose enough blood I will die. In order to explain why, I have to understand how the tissues of the body work. My ability to explain it has nothing to do with how convinced I am and everything to do with how well I understand it.

I can’t explain what I don’t understand, but I can understand what I don’t doubt.