The Rules to a Debate Have Changed Forever
Recently, I allowed myself to express an opinion online. Have you ever done that before? You know, in a moment of weakness you dived into an issue headfirst and regretted it later.
I should know better by now.
Sometimes, I regret it so quickly that I delete my response before I press the share button. Then I wipe my brow and release an audible sigh for being in control enough of my emotions to stop myself mid sentence.
I kid you not!
Other times, I’m on a roll and bim, bam, BOOM! I let the uncomplimentary superlatives fly. Well, usually I can hold back enough to only THINK the adjectives that were swimming in my head.
Unfortunately, the other party may not practice the same restraint.
Nowadays, any nobody without a face has a platform on social media where they can express themselves. Is that a good thing?
If so, how has it enriched my life or yours for that matter?
I contend that it hasn’t enriched our lives one bit. In fact, there’s a good chance that it’s only made things worse. Now that’s a depressing thought, isn’t it? As though things weren’t already bad enough when it came to human relationships, social interactions, and collaborations.
Dang!
Suddenly, we can sit anonymously in our armchairs behind a screen and DISCUSS hot topics with total strangers. That’s a recipe for disaster if I’ve ever heard of one.
Furthermore, in the last six years or so, the rules to polite discussions have been revised completely.
Where once we told our kids that it wasn’t nice to call a schoolmate, teacher, principal, boy scout leader, or neighbor a rude name, suddenly we had a President who loved name calling.
He is a stable genius when it came to publicly calling people unflattering names.
He had an unflattering name for EVERYONE he didn’t like, too. If you don’t believe me, because you can’t remember, wikipedia has listed them all for you. Thank you!
There are over 200 unflattering nicknames on this extensive list. Granted not all of the names were invented by Trump. I guess there’s a limit to even his amazing creativity. He didn’t mind borrowing a few, however.
Once the practice of name-calling was endorsed by the most powerful man in the world as just another debate strategy, every bully or thug with a limited vocabulary rejoiced.
What we once scolded our children for doing, name-calling, even washed their mouths out with soap on occasion just to drive the cultural expectation home, was now completely normalized.
The protocol for presidential behavior was redefined.
The old stuffy, stiff, generally, well-monitored presentation style that past presidents and world leaders modeled for decades was thrown in the trash once and for all.
Now, it’s kinda cool to be representing your state or country with crude remarks and off the cuff retorts.
The rules of debate were restructured. Even the golden rule was tossed out with the bar of soap that we kept for our children’s mouths. If old Don the Con could name call, then so could we, and it saved a lot of time, too. We didn’t have to think about our responses.
We could just blurt out an unfiltered comment or invent a nasty little nickname any time we pleased.
And although we’d rarely if ever witnessed this kind of non-stop behavior in any former President, it was amazing how willing and even excited many Americans were when someone they admired told them that everything their parents had taught them about polite conversation no longer applied.
Why the rebellious teen hiding inside their adult clothes took over so quickly that it made my head spin.
Debate has never been an easy exercise and frankly, I have strong doubts as to whether even a “master debater” has an impressive track record when it comes to changing people’s minds at the end of a well orchestrated debate.
I’m pretty good with words myself.
Maybe even a borderline stable genius, but I don’t think I’ve ever changed anyone’s mind by arguing my point. No matter how well thought out or researched my case might be, no matter how heated or calm the argument is, I’m not sure that I’ve ever changed anyone’s mind.
What I’m often left with instead is an agitated sensation in the pit of my stomach and a strong feeling that I just wasted a chunk of time that I’ll never get back.
I do much better writing an opinion piece. Then, I can share my thoughts without risk of getting drawn into an argument, I mean a debate. People can choose to read my opinions or not. Those that do, often agree with me and that’s why they were drawn to my piece in the first place.
It feels good to find other people who endorse your world view.
And, if someone does offer a differing opinion, I can thank them for reading my piece and sharing their thoughts. I don’t have to argue. I just presented my argument in the piece they read. It was probably longer and wordier than any single opposing response, too.
I don’t like the new rules, however.
I don’t like the name-calling that is now considered part of the art of the deal, the strategies of the game. I resent that giving someone an insulting nickname is now considered an intelligent response, and that limited vocabulary is no longer thought of as an impediment.
I resent that refined speech, rationale, well-expressed thoughts have been tossed on the pile of rejected social norms along with seeking the opinions of experts, respecting the research of scholars, and delving below the surface of pop culture.
Sigh …
It’s a new game now. Debate may have always been an exercise in futility, but at least it was a challenge intellectually. Now, all the stupid-crazy-egghead-wannabe debaters are scribbling their thoughts down on social media for posterity’s sake while a bunch of schmuck idiots think that they’re brilliant.
Dammit!
Teresa Roberts is a retired educator, author, world traveler, and professional myth buster. You can find her books on Amazon.
