If you were in the US House of Representatives in 1800, there was an important decision to be made. An electoral college tie between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr has led to the first contingent election in history; who becomes president is in your hands.

The problem is, the Federalists support Burr and the Demographic-Republicans support Jefferson. It looks like we’re in deadlock. Which party will trickle over to the other side first to decide a result?

This is one of the dilemmas told in the hit musical Hamilton, which tells the story of American founding father Alexander Hamilton: his life, death and influence over how American history played out. In this pivotal moment, where the contingent election appears to be in deadlock, Hamilton announces his opinion on which of the two candidates he prefers – a statement which would ultimately decide the election results.

Although Hamilton has always battled Jefferson as a rival whereas Burr was an early friend, Hamilton declares in the musical: when all is said and done / Jefferson has beliefs. Burr has none. Hamilton would rather back somebody with wrong principles than someone devoid of many. This support ultimately leads some Federalists to switch allegiances, voting Jefferson in as the 3rd President of the United States from 1801 to 1809, with Burr serving as vice-president.

Hints for this result can be found earlier in the musical when a younger Hamilton asks Burr, If you stand for nothing, Burr, what’ll you fall for? The young Hamilton is frustrated at Burr’s inability to fully support a cause: revolution or monarchy under King George III? Freedom or consistency? This indecision for action ultimately proves to be Burr’s political downfall.

As someone who is high in openness, it’s easy to have no opinions. You can see both sides of an argument, understand their merits and this leaves you paralysed. Having firm beliefs about anything is difficult because you can see the faults in any singular view and you don’t want to believe in anything shaky. And so, the default solution is just to do nothing. No opinions is safe.

But the problem with having no opinions is that if you stand for nothing, what do you fall for? If you can’t articulate your values to anybody, what will you do when you are forced to confront them for yourself? Compare these two: a man who firmly believes in something wrong and a man who timidly believes in nothing. One is arrogant, the other is a coward. I think deep down I’d respect the arrogant person more. If God were to judge these two men, I think he would reward courage over being safe. The Hamiltons over the Burrs. If you think about it, Jesus Christ is probably one of the most courageous persons in history.

And so this is a dilemma I’ve been wrestling with: to be a safe coward and stay true to openness, or to recklessly adopt an opinion for the sake of courage. Is there a middle ground? I don’t know. Maybe there’s a compromise or a piece of the puzzle I’m missing.

But this I know: standing and falling for nothing seems like a pretty dull way to exist.