Why Argue Instead of Doing Research?

Time and again we see hints that many people have lost….or perhaps never developed….critical thinking skills. We can blame schools or families, but once a person reaches adulthood, the choice is theirs.

If you don’t know how to cook, watch some cooking videos or read a cookbook. If you don’t know how to put together that IKEA desk, go to Youtube. If you don’t know how to research something, there are plenty of instructions available.

Yes, it is easier to learn something when you are young. But if you want to improve the way you present yourself to the world, you can learn new tricks. Unless you prefer to be stuck in place.

Example: one of my friends on Facebook has a family member who often joins in the conversation. I have been warned time and again not to bother interacting with him; that he is a troll. However, I come from a long line of do-gooders and I am pretty stubborn. I think almost anyone is redeemable…..if they show willingness to learn.

The thread got into Trump’s promise to bring back coal. No one contributing to the conversation had lived in West Virginia but since I had, and because I had had a meaningful conversation about coal with a mining engineer at one of my son’s cross country meets, I shared that exchange.

The information I shared is easily verified by countless articles posted to the Internet. However, the troll chose to tell me what I said was hearsay and he would just wait and see what Trump does to help the coal miners.

The legal definition of heresay fits, but the common definition does not. 

Since we were not in court, why the hesitation to accept what I offered?  It took me less than 3 minutes to find and read an article from a reliable source about the causes of the decline in the coal industry in West Virginia.

He either had no interest in agreeing with anything anyone says or he has no desire to do research.

Either he enjoys his role of being a dissenter in the context of the Facebook discussion or he is unable to learn anything new.

He is only one of many many people who exhibit similar behavior.  Think of your own habits. Do you agree or disagree with something based on the information presented or do you bother to take a few minutes to research independently?

I consider my time on Facebook to be “free time”. In other words, I CAN step away from the conversation to actually verify facts. This is not work. This is not something that is particularly time sensitive.

But what you say and do is your face to the world. Why be a troll?

From Wikipedia: In Internet slang, a troll (/ˈtroʊl/, /ˈtrɒl/) is a person who sows discord on the Internet by starting arguments or upsetting people, by posting inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community  with the intent of provoking readers into an emotional responseor of otherwise disrupting normal, on-topic discussion, often for the troll’s amusement.
If a person chooses this behavior willingly, he certainly is not worth my effort to “teach”.

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Mums the Word

I made a decision that today would be a day of rest…from the craziness on Facebook. No, I did go online…..I did. But I posted my desire to share only good positive things today.I got 3 likes and my husband made a comment. And that was that.

So either no one did anything good for making the world a better place or they don’t care to share it. There is one more option: they don’t care about nice things.

Oh sure videos about cats and dogs are good. Tons of them on Facebook. The better to avoid the rest of the stuff I suppose because the rest of the stuff really really is bothersome.

There are so many more posts about things that really truly irk people: noise on the street, being pulled over by a cop, traffic jams, children crossing the southern border of the United States, the recent Hobby Lobby decision, the war in Gaza….lots and lots of stuff on my Facebook feed.

And the shame of it is that all it is is mud. I will throw my mud. You will throw your mud. I will try to duck but I will get dirty and so will you.

So today, I decided no mud. I read…and I formed my response in my head…..but I did not write a word.

In a way, it is pointless. No one truly is swayed when they are so far over on the spectrum that it is amazing they even respond with words that are polite. All we are doing is throwing the mud.

Does anyone think calmly posting opposing viewpoints helps at all? Is the world a smaller place when we appear to be trying to understand each other?

Mums the Word….for the rest of today anyway.

P.S. I’m cheating by posting this blog since it goes on Facebook. LOL