No one truly likes confrontation and that is not a statement that should shock anybody, but the truth is that we simply can't avoid it all the time, and slapping the label "pacifist" on our forehead does not shield us from the responsibility to speak up when we should.

Don't bring a knife to a gun fight

I've used this popular saying a few times myself, but in the context of debating ideas, of engaging the opposing narrative it does not really apply. I mean, unless we are debating or conversing intensely to be less dramatic with the goal of stroking our own ego with an insignificant victory, debates should be processes for polishing ideas and convictions.

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   This is to say, if you are engaging on debates with someone and not walking away from the situation asking new questions, you have utterly and undeniably wasted your time. Of course this does not necessarily mean you have to switch over to the other side of the argument, or that you are a traitor to your own cause, but what it does mean is that you are actively seeking for new lenses with which to understand a problem and all of it's nuances.

But... I'm a small fish

   Ideas don't need to come from a form of authority to be valid, they should be able to stand on their own two feet. If an idea requires titles and degrees behind it to be even considered, this might say everything you need to know about the substance of said idea.

   As we all know in the world of online virtual interactions debates and arguments are a common occurrence, but the efficiency of engagement combined with a laughable inability of its participants to stick to the issues has made them more circus acts than mental jousts.

   Regardless of your vested power on this platform you have a voice, you have a keyboard and you have a brain. If you have something to add, something of value, a new question to present or an angle no one has explored its probably your ethical obligation to participate.

What about the idiots?

   Aside from the fact that using ad hominen arguments have never solved a single issue, it's also quite naive to believe that bad ideas will ever cease to exist, as if there is a way to truly eliminate them permanently. Ideas simply get replaced by improved versions, they evolve through the processes of disagreement and that is exactly what I'm talking about.

   A good friend asked me a couple of days ago to explain the reason why I would even entertain arguing with someone with extreme ideologies. The problem I find with this type of thinking is that it ignores the fact that none-engagement does not make mental aberrations go away. We tend to be so afraid of conflict that terrible ideas have grown into sociological monsters and it takes but a glance into a few religions to understand what I mean by this.

The ideological Buffet was shutdown by our very nature

There is almost no way a considerable amount of us sapiens can agree on the correct "ism" to take over society and this makes it extremely difficult for us to find nuanced solutions to our complex problems. The word compromise has been tinged with shades of weakness, maybe because in today's society finding middle ground is for the weak minded and the morally compromised.

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   We need to however learn to unlearn these lies about arguing. Unlearn that conflict should be avoided at any cost unless the engagement of the most brutal kind is required. What I find pretty interesting about our willing avoidance of historic evidence is that we tend to stand in shock after the fact and pretend we had no idea what happened and how we got here.

We need to be comfortable with being uncomfortable

   Confirmation Bias has never moved any needles in the right direction and as much as it can be emotionally excruciating to listen to someone who we believe is painfully wrong. Allowing ourselves to reconsider our own positions and be better listeners will only result in personal growth and development.

   Toxicity cannot be completely avoided and maybe this is a call to everyone with good ideas to feel empowered to speak up regardless of your wallet size. It might take many of us to find a solution, but it takes none of us to head towards failure.