In one of those vlogs I tend to do these days someone mentioned that I always seem to careful when I'm voicing my opinion. Meaning that I beat around the bush too much, I don't get to the meat of the issue fast enough. There is some truth to that, I must admit. But, I do so because life has taught me that if I don't I lose the line of communication anyways.
Couching the Caveats
This is not entirely my expression mind you, but I find it very fitting to describe my tactic, my little technique. Simply because it's an attempt to be considerate while at the same time being effective when I am possibly opposing someone's opinion.
Let's say for the sake of making a point that I was having a debate with someone who believed the earth was flat. Yes, there is a considerable amount of people on earth that subscribe to this idea, still today. Let me ask you, What is more effective? To insult, to ridicule, or to ask to see the edge, the place where the world ends?
Granted that example might be a little too easy, but it drives my point home without insulting, and that is the key element here, the ones who think that I mistakenly believe the world to be round. Now, does this mean I will effectively convince everyone of my stance? Of course not, but there will those times were the other person will concede to some of my points, and others when they actually agree.
Debates are fun but useless some say
My good friend @clayboyn says this quite often. Maybe because we have a friend in common who absolutely loves debating. He thrives in the tumultuous waters of disagreement. Why? That is a question our friend should answer, not me, but this is an observable phenomena.
I do have to ask myself what would be the purpose on engaging in debate with someone, if that person is determined to do so only for an ego boost. Meaning that I can recognize I will be the excuse for that person performing some sort of self affirmation. The old "Im right, because you are wrong" banality.
Now of course, this does not mean I don't want to discuss an issue, or voice my opinion just because I fear disagreement, no. This just means that I must be aware for my own sanity, really, if I'm about to partake on an action of futility.
Caveats are Weapons
And that is kind of my point with this strange post. They seem to allow some sort of mental inception, a lowering of someone's guard, to at least consider a counter point, if only for a minute or two. I'm not entirely sure if this is the case for the majority of people, but at least anecdotally this has shown to be mostly true for me.
Just think about this, you just read a whole post about couches, with a picture of a couch. Yet, there was nothing about furniture here, not even the mention of a store. So what just happened? Did you just get mentally incepted?
I guess, we will never know...
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@meno | Sept. 5, 2018, 8:38 p.m. | Votes: 0 | [
VOTE ]
hahhahha ok ok...
puts on the ninja costume
Yes they are both important, but they are not equally so.
Here is where I stand:
Quality writers have outward projection, well, quality content creators. So, they are crucial to bring traffic and possibly more investment. Without investment none of this would matter much, since this whole thing is supposed to be a financial revolution dressed in ascii characters.
So, they represent the main element of the successful model's pie.
But, and this is a big But!
It's quite reasonable to imagine a system of incentives for content consumers that would allow the regular joe doe, or jane to buy a little bit of tokens and make some sunday icecream money while consuming their favorite content and supporting their favorite authors.
However, we wear many hats, I write a lot, and read a ton too. Maybe that is the reason why I write a lot.
So I copped out a bit, but I did use a good caveat and of course, it was couched nicely.
@torico | Sept. 5, 2018, 8:47 p.m. | Votes: 1 | [
VOTE ]
haha meno this topic sorta popped my podium button, sorry..
imho, some people just like the energy of debating. i think it has a lot to do with the family and the environment people are brought up in. I agree that insults, sarcasm and ridicule are dangerous - but are they being used as weapons or tools?
trying to pin labels on people who dont believe what you do or act as you think they should is also equally as dangerous. do you believe in social welfare? my god you must be a communist!
its futile to guess what another persons psychological motives are for saying something the way they do. maybe they arent as skilled, or not as quick with words. maybe they know if they appeal to emotions instead of intellect they will win through triggering peoples fears.
you can guess and label and surmise, but do you really know? and is that productive, to cast aspersions on someones character to make yourself look good or win the argument?
there is a tricky line where debate goes past discussion, and people get trapped into proving a point. some people are attached to the outcome. other people want to state their opinion, but get annoyed if you disagree with what they feel is correct.
some people think its fun and or acceptable to push buttons in order to get people to react, and just dont get that other people don't feel safe with that.
does this mean we should stop debating? how will we discuss the things that really matter? is it fair to discuss things when one side has already made up their mind? being open to discussion is important.
i guess what i am saying is that conversation is a lost art. a skill. a hundred or more years ago, rules were fairly strict around what what considered polite and permissible. (then again life was simpler) but now public debate is a lost art form.
today, media allows a host of interventions so you dont put your foot in shit; plan what you say, script it out and edit it for tv. on the other hand, once its in the blockchain, its there like - forever?
how we are communicating to each other has changed so radically that its no wonder we are all confused about the "how to".
the key, in my mind, is to bring back the lost art of conversing without pissing people off.
all of this emphasis on math and history in schools should be countered by how to read and write critically, make logical decisions and practicing the art of polite discourse. things we no longer teach our children because ffs - who has the time?
we are a world of how many people and languages and communities and nations. we might need to reassess what is important to avoid the next world war.