Communication is an important cornerstone of getting things done in our society, but speaking is only half of a good dialogue. Many political influencers and speakers debate with the opposing side, which is a way to escape echo chambers and extend one’s viewpoints beyond the people who already agree with one. The issue that comes from most of these debates is the lack of authenticity.
Most people would assume that while the big names of whichever party or side will have very stubborn stances on their perspective, they will still go into a debate to understand the opposition and perhaps find flaws in their thinking. Sadly, it has become more apparent in modern politics that these sides don’t have such mindsets. The general mindset in debates is that one person is right, and one person is wrong. Any sort of understanding is dropped for the sensation of being smarter or morally superior. The notion of “losing” a debate is perceived as being dumb, rather than simply having your mind changed.
Have you ever argued with someone and thought you got through to them, only for that person to go back to their original argument the next day? It makes the idea of debating seem pointless like it’s only there to reinforce whatever opinions either side has on each other. Nobody likes to admit being wrong, because being right is so much easier and vindicating. It honestly takes more strength to admit to flawed viewpoints and try to challenge them.
Debates will continue to be long rants of people yelling over each other unless our devotion to winning is lessened. It’s good to have unchanging morals, but seeing things through different perspectives will only give credibility to those morals and may even bring people to change.
