The Lost Art of Debate

We as a nation have lost the ability to debate. Or maybe we never had it.

What inspires this, you ask. Was it listening to Democans/Republicrat commentators on the TV? Was it reading one of Plato's works? Was it listening to scientists discuss the latest theory of the farts of poodles affecting the Ozone Layer? (And I mean affecting. These are the jokes, we all have to deal that.)

No. Of course not. I was reading blogs. What else do I do with my time?

There was a big ruckus at one of the blogs I frequent, big enough to cause hurt feelings. Some left the blog perhaps never to return. Of these, at least two had blogs of their own. I journeyed to them, read the injured parties' thoughts on the matter, and the little gray cells in my head started a sparkin' over another blog entry. (Yep! Both of them! Firing as one! Who'd've thunk it?)

Now, contrary to standard practices here at Welltun Cares Presents, I'm not going to link the sites. It doesn't matter who was right or wrong, or if there was a history of such between the parties. We will say Yes and No and leave it at that.

What I find more interesting was the venting of the "wounded" parties. The two of them talked about how the offender was "surrounded by Yes People" and there was no one at the blogs to "give a wake up call to reality" for the offender. It struck me as a tad self righteous of both of them, all things considered, but I have no illusions about myself. My own personal quirks can cloud by vision sometimes. They could well be right and I be wrong. It's that time of year, after all.

But, even more interesting was in the comment sections of both blogs. There were three or four comments saying just how right the wounded parties were and isn't it a shame? And neither blogger made any note about these "Yes People", or suggesting that they should have another opinion maybe, to keep everyone in touch with reality.

I'm not saying these two bloggers or the commenters were in anyway wrong in what they were saying. Not in the slightest. But, in the words of one of the Great Poets, it's a little bit ironic, don't you think?

Okay, so Alanis Morissette isn't one of the Great Poets. I couldn't think of anything from Shakespeare or Emily Dickerson that fit the situation. What do you want from me? I'm just. One. Man.

Or a roomful of monkeys pounding on a keyboard. I mean, given enough time...

Whenever we start discussing things, debating things, or arguing things, we usually enter believing that we are right. Which is the way it should be. What's the point of getting into things if you know your wrong?

But you have to allow the possibility that your viewpoint might be wrong, too. You have to listen and consider what was being said. It is possible to change your mind. And how are you going to change anyone's mind yourself if you're not going to honestly examine the other person's words?

No one seems able to do that anymore. Accusations start flying at the drop of a hat. You've got a closed mind. You're not listening. You're blind. You're a fool. You're a fascist, You're a pinko. You're a potty mouth. You're a doo-doo head. On and on and on and on and on. Like a blogger with only two gray cells rattling in his head.

Ahem.

We've become a nation of fanatics convinced we bear the One Truth. Hell's teeth, the world's full of people like that who will not bend, who will not accept that they could be wrong. I know I've been one of them, to my shame, and no doubt I will be one of them again at the drop of a dime.

It needs to stop. It needs correcting.

And how do we fix this?

Damned if I know. I'm no wise man. It's just has to be done, for all of our sakes.

I'm just glad that, with my blog, I've got readers who delight in pointing out my mistakes. Who revel in every little error. Who rejoice in my sloppiness.

And that's just my family.

Now that I think about it, this place could use a few Yes People scattered about. Wonder how you get them. E-bay?

That's a problem for later. Hunger looms. We've got to go to the kitchen and get ourselves some nice bannanas...