In college, the one thing I have had to come to terms with is the sheer volume of opinions. Everyone’s has one...they’re like majors, everyone’s gotta have ’em. There isn’t anything wrong with this of course, except when the pressure to have the right opinion becomes suffocating.
You have people sitting around and debating issues without really understanding each other’s viewpoints and what’s worse, unwilling to cede ground even when the other guy makes more sense. At this point, what could have been an interesting conversation about a contentious issue devolves into sophist one-upmanship (or up-personship?) with an obsession to prove oneself as being the one that’s gotten it all figured out.
It’s just pointless to begin talking about anything if the sole purpose of your ‘contributions’ is an attempt to oust your interlocutor from the ‘Smart’ category from the minds of those listening. Besides, then you’re not reaching any kind of common ground or solving the proposed problem or probing further into the topic at hand...all the functions of a healthy argument.
If you’re going to be vociferous about your assertions, and often this is simply a way of talking rather than any actual rhetorical exercise, then it’s fine as long as you acknowledge the other perspectives around you and try to make sense of them in the framework of your tirades. But arguing for the sake of arguing has become all too common, at least in Fergusson. And it’s worse than being stupid, it’s just unnecessary.
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hey!
ReplyDeletespot on!!
see: The Main Circle: An Exhaustive History
I agree, and that's where the rigidity of a debate comes in. Or even just an argument. It becomes a battle to prove that you are smarter, were always right and the other party stupid. Instead of accepting the fact that one just MAY have been wrong, it becomes a ferocious race to DEFEAT the other person. All reason is dismissed.
ReplyDeleteThat IS the case be it any school or college or (sadly) most work environments.
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