I’ve spent the entirety of my life on this planet educating myself, and being educated by my peers and family, about every single subject that crossed our paths. Great care was taken by my elders to discuss any issue -past, present and future – that was deemed important and necessary to have a vetted view of the world and its realities. I took great pride in doing my best to become a productive member of society, and that included validating every opinion, angle and though about controversial and mundane subject matter.
Because of this my opinion is based on higher scrutiny standards and scrubbed of bias, to a degree. It is hard to keep my thoughts to myself when random people disagree with me because they feel like it. Being a woman, young, latin, a scientist, agnostic or whatever label you want to employ when categorizing me doesn’t invalidate my logic or reasoning. You will gain absolutely nothing by stating you disagree and you will have not convinced me you are correct either.
What does my rant imply? Glad you asked! When you post opinion pieces that are missing data, most likely you will hear from someone, like me. After all, we have no other way of knowing you did your due diligence because we did and we came to different conclusions. Most things in life can be boiled down to binary components: Yes or no. Gray areas are considered so because opinions range in comprehension but the facts are absolute and uncontested. Telling me you disagree doesn’t make your logic correct nor validates your opinion as sound. The onus is on you to open your mind and consider the opposing view to adjust your perspective. The data will set you free.
Don’t take these discussions personally, and take them as an opportunity to grow as a person and debater. Keep an open mind when people reach out to discuss controversial or deep subjects because it is supposes to be a difficult conversation. You can only give credence to what you can confirm, and sometimes your biases or convictions will get in the way of the bigger picture.
If thinking hurts your brain when you are discussing ideas then you are on the right track. Channel the passion you have about the subject in a rational way. Emotions can and will derail your train of thought if you haven’t considered all the angles. Don’t close yourself off to avoid a change of heart because sometimes you will have to adjust your beliefs.
The truth is out there…
Mrs. Enginerd - Nerd Whisperer 