The Dying Dialectic

The worst thing about social media is that it gives a voice to the stupid.

I worry that we are losing the concept of the dialectic. In fact, I wish we could eliminate the word "argument" from our language and replace it with "conversation." Dialogue should be about two people, eschewing pathos, logically laying out their points and counter points. If done correctly, the end result is that both parties are better informed than before the conversation began.

The second worst thing about social media is that the first person to make a Nazi comparison wins the argument.

Watch two people on Facebook have a debate about guns. With all the red herrings and strawman arguments it's like a logical fallacy convention. Any attempt at rationality is drowned in a sea of over-the-top accusations.

If you want to change abortion, gun culture, healthcare, or foreign policy, you'll never get there by insulting the other side. You will need a good portion of those people to come to your side and shaming them will never work. You'll have to find common ground and that will only happen through a dialectic approach.