sábado, 14 de agosto de 2021

An odd hill to die on

I guess with time I've realized being right is not just about stating facts, but rather about which truths one chooses to defend and which truths one deems not worth defending. Using facts and logic instead of emotional reactions to process information and being open to fair criticism make one a reasonable person, sure, but once one is there, one needs to understand that, as widespread as it is, defending facts that support one's ideology and shutting up when facts come against the grain (even if internally you know them true) is hypocritical at best and at worst downright shitty. To be a decent person, not only is it required to be reasonable (people that cannot be reasoned with can never be decent. Being good requires understanding, otherwise it's just fanaticism, which however misguided may even end up helping some people incidentally!¹) but also one has to choose carefully how they challenge a given opinion, because focusing on contesting specific contradictions that don't affect its general validity can give the impression that one is against the whole idea or even the principles behind it.

So I always check now. Even if what I'm going to say, while controversial, is technically right, I look around to see whether it's worth the hassle. And around most people, it almost never is.

I hope this answers your question as to why I deleted my Twitter account.


¹: Looking at you, religion, you crazy fuck.