Bad Advice

[forsyth]

One of the worst pieces of advice I picked up during my childhood came from parents, teachers, and even GI Joe. They all said it's better to walk away than to fight. Most of the time, that's not true. It doesn't do anything to stop the problem in most cases. And it keeps you from getting the things you need and want. And there's a lot of things worth fighting for. And things where you need to fight just to stay in the game. Not in the physical sense, perhaps, but still. So forget GI Joe.

Comments

[frustratedpilot]

Actually, the much-much-better advice is "Choose Your Battles". Ever since the night I learned how to put a value on a conflict (and thus weight the risks versus any possible benefit from victory), the level of conflict in my life has been manageable.

I agree that there are definitely things in life worth fighting for. Fighting for the sake of the fight, however, is stupid--and worse, a part of human nature that is all too common.

[fearrett.livejournal.com]

*Breaks into a horribly off key version of "A girl worth fighting for"*

[forsythferret.livejournal.com]

Yes, choose your battles. But things have been presented so far the other way sometimes it doesn't really matter. Or been interpreted that way, by stupid impressionable kids like I was and didn't realize quite how stupid or impressed it was.

[evilcarp.livejournal.com]

I don't know about GI Joe, but any time someone gave me that advice, they were talking about physical fights. And I don't believe that there's any time when getting into a fist fight with someone is the better option than just walking away. Throwing punches doesn't do anything to stop problems either.

The statement you make is flawed, anyway. You make it sound like the only options are to either fight or walk away. That's the big problem. There are always other options.