Sunday, April 24, 2005

Wanna Fight?

Here’s what I believe. There is absolutely no point in engaging in conversation, debate, or all-out-teeth-clenched-sleeves-rolled-up-sweaty-upper-lip argument with anyone unless you’re willing to admit that you just might be……….wrong.

Fonzie WRONG.

The admission of it stuck in your throat like a half-chewed pizza crust from the night before kind of wrong. Even humiliated.

These days it seems most people aren’t willing to participate in good (read: heated) conversation. Why? Because we are scared. We’re all pee our pants scared because we don’t want to admit that we don’t have an opinion. The very thought of not having something to say leaves us speechless. So, instead we piss away precious words on innocuous chitchat, barely lapping at the fringe of controversy lest our ignorance be a bitter pill.

Why can’t we say “Hey, thanks, I learned something today.” or, “Who knew??” or, God forbid, “I didn’t know that!”? Because we are so threatened by the very notion of recognizing that we aren’t a bunch of know-it-alls, that we walk around acting like them instead.

In reality, the plethora of information available to us after a blind date with Google is mind numbing. The more we’re supposed to know, the stupider we become. Dabblers aplenty, the experts amongst us a dying breed.

So what’s the answer? In my opinion, (because I have one… thank you Jesus….dodged that bullet) you don’t need to have the answers, you only need to know where to find them. Surround yourself with amazing people and the answers will always be at hand. Seek and ye shall find, but seek quality, not quantity.

Judge the book by its cover; those in the know…..show. They have courage and passion and aren’t afraid to bare their asses from time to time. They aren’t afraid to admit that they were…..not exactly right. This time.

4 comments:

fuquinay said...

Yup! You are absolutely right. :) You know me; I'm always lookin' for an argument.

MsC said...

I always tell my students that they are welcome to hold and express any opinion, but they had to be prepared to defend their words. They appreciate the freedom, but admit that they often have to really work hard to put together a good argument for their thoughts. They are not tasked to do this anymore and don't have the skills...sad.

Moonie said...

Although I am not going to bare my ass to just anyone ( because it isn't a very pretty picture), I do like a conversation with some heat to it. I have been found to admit that I am wrong- Fonzie WRONG even.
Thought provoking piece- I enjoyed it.

Brownie said...

Nice read, I liked it a lot. You know me, I love a good, heated discussion. I also like to be right (Little Miss Can't Be Wrong, remember?) but will openly admit when I'm wrong.