Is it wrong to be neutral?
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People prefer to think that it’s always either yin or yang, either allied powers or axis powers, either yes or no, either good or bad, either useful or useless, either left-wing or right-wing, either (SRK or Salman, Ajith or Vijay). Ok, the last two examples were pathetic, I agree 🙂
There are a lot of situations in life where we don’t have an opinion, don’t have affiliations, don’t have preferences, don’t want to take sides, don’t want to get into the ‘you vs me’ game. In other words, we are neutral. We have a neutral point of view. We are not ‘against’ anyone but we are also not ‘for’ anyone.
Is this wrong?
Affiliations are beneficial, but they can be equally dangerous. Unless I am very clear about what I am getting into, I prefer not to be affiliated with any side.
When I was young (6th/7th standard), we used to go to Hindi classes. These classes were dominated by girls (I don’t know why) and there were few guys as well. I had a lot of ‘girl friends’ who were elder to me. I always thought that girls of my age or lesser were silly. But that’s a different topic. Coming back, we used to call them Akka (Akka in Tamil means elder sister). I thought Akka’s had a lot of knowledge and were smart.
As it so happened, there were a couple of powerful ‘Akka’s’ who hated each other. So, they started forming groups. The Hindi class was evenly split between the two, but I was not in either of the group. That was mainly because I had friends in both the groups. More importantly, I was friendly with both the group ‘heads’. Then why would I join one of them?
As you might have guessed, that was the end to my social activities for that term. No one spoke to me freely from there on and people were always suspecting me to be in collusion with the other side. Of course, the group heads knew me quite well, but the ones below were intent in causing confusion (mainly by spreading rumours etc).
But I was just being neutral. In fact, I carried some messages between the two group ‘heads’, but I was always an outsider to both the groups.
I saw similar groupism in school, college, etc. Frankly, I never got ‘into’ any group. I guess people might have thought that if I am left alone, I would somehow crumble and choose to join a group. But I like to be alone, with myself. So, I didn’t join their ‘seemingly exclusive’ groups. I didn’t like the commitments of being a ‘group insider’ and I never wanted the advantages that come with it, either.
This was quite fine, really. Till I started working.
In companies/offices, people seemed to assume that if I was not a member of one camp, then I was automatically in the other side. Being neutral seemed to be the perfect way to develop considerable number of enemies from both the sides.
Is this the way the world works? Is it wrong to be neutral? Is it wrong not to have an opinion on certain things? Is it wrong not to take sides?
Destination Infinity
It is absolutely fine not to take sides. Something I have done when in doubt, always.
This question was on my mind sometime when I was new in a workplace and I was expected to have lunch with this or that group. I just started eating by my own and eventually, am now a part of the workforce and the intitution but not any group.
I don’t mind not being let onto the gossip coz’ I have friends and that’s more than enough.
Sorry for the rant. I just totally concur with your thoughts.
Whom are we trying to please anyway?
Its perfectly okay to be neutral. Dont care about anyone… not worth giving a second thought, if they do not respect ur values. Ultimately, you will find like-minded people.
trust me, its perfect to be neutral .. you be silent and not take side of either good or bad .. soon you’ll find you are victorious .. so always be neutral .. period !
Like you said, we all have been there. You always cannot have an opinion. I personally don’t have it a number of times so I just stay silent and find my own way to deal with it by not worrying about what others think of me.
its ok to be neutral nothing wrong
No I am not like all, I think one shud take sides depending who or what is going on, being neutral is what has brought our country to what it is ,
I beleive in standing with my friends right or wrong .. maybe i am wrong in thinking that way .. but then thats me
why would you want ot be neautral , I can understand it only if in your heart you dont know who is right.. but if one is right then its wrong to be neautral .. I will always side with the one who i think is right ..
Bikram’s
I am talking about situations where we know that both sides are wrong and are still forced to choose one side.
Destination Infinity
I am very stubborn that way , I would not chose still and they will both know they are wrong
It is not easy to be neutral, I know, but that is a good attitude. Yes, you might lose friends for a temporary period, then it is OK. Everybody moves on!
Why do people urge someone to join one of the groups. That’s absolutely nothing wrong in being neutral. And We don’t need to form opinions/liking or dislike on everything. When will people grow, and start thinking like matured??
interesting and meaningful post…
thanks for sharing
You are not an extrovert right? Whatever much I know of you, if a person a like you keeps quiet without revealing whose side you are on, I am not really surprised people became suspicious. 🙂 You might be neutral, but hey they don’t know that right?
That is the complaint. That I don’t take sides. They want me to take one side or the other. Being neutral is ‘wrong’ in their books!
Destination Infinity
Its very tough to stand your ground and not to take sides. But sometimes one just has to. but mostly its better to not take sides.