Most Essays on Medium are Opinion Pieces and Can Lead to Debate
Let me begin by saying that this essay is more of an exercise in thinking out loud. It’s full of questions for which I have no answers. Feel free to respond accordingly.
Opinions are as common as dust on a shelf and often as aggravating. They both can produce a strong reaction, too. Dust can make you sneeze and opinions can make you swear.
Many if not most essays on Medium are opinion pieces.
Opinion pieces have long been accepted by newspapers and magazines. If they’re signed, then the opinions are those strictly of the author. If they are unsigned, then the author was representing the opinion of the journal.
I don’t write for anyone but myself.
I assume that’s true of many other writers on Medium. So, whenever I choose a topic to write about, I’m expressing my opinions. Right or wrong, they’re mine.
They can be endorsed by other writers and readers or they can be hotly debated.
Some readers like the entire essay, others disagree with parts of it. A few will disagree with one line or even one word, prompting a long response. I’ve noticed that when that happens, I sometimes rush to defend that phrase or word. It’s often an emotional reaction to a response that I interpreted to be an overreaction.
A debate tends to follow.
While there’s nothing wrong with a debate as long as both parties remain somewhat civil, often the point being singled out for debate wasn’t worth debating in the first place.
In other words, I just wasted my time on a fruitless endeavor.
Sometimes, I even forget what the original point was that I was trying to make because the entire essay wasn’t really about that one phrase or word.
In real offscreen life, most arguments tend to follow this path as well.
Even when it’s an argument between two people who are friends or lovers. The things that we argue about are all too often trivial aggravations in the big scheme of things.
So why do we do it in the first place?
Are we trying to save the world, change someone’s mind, win an argument, get in the last word, take a moral stand, or none of the above?
Is it the human ego that allows opinions to take center stage so easily?
I really want to know. Words are most likely our best way to communicate, however, they fail us more often than not. Even when we think we’ve won an argument, we really don’t know for sure if our opponent truly understands our point of view.
Words don’t provide the clarity we think they do.
If you speak a second language like I do, you probably know that the power of words isn’t as impressive as most people think. Once you start trying to translate your language into a second language, you begin to realize that there is often no direct translation for the word you want to use. To people who speak your language, the word carries very subtle cultural undertones. When translated much if not most of that is lost. Whereas your language may have one or two synonyms that are easily interchangeable, the second language you sort of speak has a dozen words for your two words all of which carry shades of different meanings. Although the definitions of these twelve words seem interchangeable to you, they aren’t at all when spoken by a native speaker. Thus everything you meant to convey is lost in translation.
Use the wrong word and your message will be misunderstood. We all should know that many social problems are due to misunderstandings.
Okay. It might be fairly easy for someone to understand that words are not always the best way to communicate between people who speak different languages.
I contend that it’s only a little bit easier to communicate when you speak the same language.
There are so many factors that prohibit effective communication. We assume that because we know what we want to say that everyone else will understand what we wrote. Yet, that’s not the way it works. People do zero in on one or two phrases or words at the expense of the overall point. They are also forced to interpret meaning because your words weren’t as clear as you may have thought. It’s easy to imply things, generalize, jump from one thought to the next, assume that a reader knows the background to your thinking, or drone on and on while losing a reader’s attention.
Think about it.
When we write, we tend to believe that we’re being more concise than when we speak, but in fact, the reader is left to assign meaning to words alone. There are no facial expressions, gestures, or voice intonations to give them additional clues as to whether you’re being sarcastic, serious, or sincere.
The next thing you know, a response is offered that seems confrontational.
It illicits a quick return response from you. Boom! The reader and writer are off and running. The debate cycle has begun.
National debate team, here we come!
I’ve been trying to think of alternative ways to write an opinion piece with a totally different tone to it. Unless of course my goal is to challenge someone else’s opinion, I’m wondering if there’s another way of sharing my thoughts that might encourage less debate and a more constructive conversation.
I do love my own opinions, but I really don’t enjoy debating.
Yet, I want to hear from readers, especially if they have something to add that I haven’t thought about.
Instead of debate, maybe I’m looking for the open sourcing of shared solutions to problems.
Open sourcing of ideas and knowledge has proven to speed up progress when it comes to new inventions and innovation. Businesses who have used this model, rather than patenting, tend to solve problems and improve new products quicker. Sure, there’s not a single big winner, but the collective efforts produce surprising growth. Innovation tends to thrive in an environment where ideas are freely shared.
Hmmmmm
Intriguing to say the least. If only we could tap into something that goes beyond debate and centers instead on mutual problem solving. Am I being unrealistic? Does the human ego prevent us from doing so?
Inquiring minds want to know.
Teresa Roberts is a retired educator, author, world traveler, and professional myth buster. You can find her books on Amazon.
