A civil rights activist scoffs at the career racist - citing statistics of how youth in African American neighborhoods are, contrary to popular belief, actually less susceptible to drug-abuse than their upperclass counterparts. An immigrant mother’s ignorance on LGBT issues infuriates her teenage son. He argues that she’s living in the past, and that in the 21st century, people have a right to the freedom of love. What’s in common with the above scenarios? These situations and snappy responses represent a few examples of the most popular arguments, likable statuses, and retweetable tweets of our generation. Scroll down your news feed and you’ll understand what I mean. It seems that some, at last, have discovered the hidden secrets of virality. Paint a picture of an ignorant antagonist, lagging behind the times of a progressive society, a one-dimensional villain that can be vividly attributed to normal people we meet in our everyday lives. Present yourself and what you believe in (the two have become inseparable in modern society) as the heroic protagonist, a voice of reason seeking to enlighten a morally derailed humankind. Position yourself in direct contrast to the above antagonist. If they eat SpecialK, you eat Kelloggs. If they wake up in the morning, you wake up at night. If they believe the world is round, you claim it to be flat. Also one-dimensional, equally boring but enormously powerful in the #hashtag world that we live in. In school, we’re taught to debate, to argue and to convince. We learn to phrase points as arguments and to back them up with evidence - facts, and statistics. We write essays for the sake of proving a point. We’re encouraged to acknowledge opposing views, but only for the sake of supporting our own. We’re told not to sit on the fence, encouraged to make a decision on right and wrong and then prove it. Having a strong opinion is a sign of strength. Being unsure is viewed as a sign of weakness. Anyone who’s written an essay for the SAT’s knows exactly what I’m talking about. It’s no wonder then, that our first instinct in any form of non-agreeable interaction or conversation is to defend our point of view. The phrase “I understand where you’re coming from” is almost always followed by “but… [insert something along the lines of you’re wrong’]”. Understanding becomes secondary, the alpha personality dominates negotiations. On social media, this behavior is reflected very clearly. People with the strong, viral-friendly opinions mentioned above are incentivized to share. Those sitting on the fence are encouraged to observe and proliferate the limited sphere of existing viewpoints. Before long, a firm line divides supporters and opponents of virtually any conflict/event/activity, with a vacuous hole of what could have been independent thinkers left in the middle. The career racist doesn’t care about the length or comprehensiveness of your list of supporting facts. Chances are, youre just preaching to the choir and playing hero to his antagonist. Your immigrant mother has probably never heard of the concept of the freedom to love. You won’t change her opinion without first understanding her point of view. Too often, we try to turn on the light from outside the room, never thinking to venture inside to where the light switch resides. By being more aware of why people do things than just what people do, we can lay the foundation for a more tolerant society. It starts with the values that we teach our children.
Posted on: Tue, 19 Aug 2014 00:14:42 +0000
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