Debates and arguments without relevant data to back up assertions are sheer waste of time and energy. Any forum of this kind, formal or informal, is rooted in opinions of the participants and trajectories of their belief system which are mostly irrational and off the mark.
I purposefully avoid such situations and the moment I detect any discussion slipping into uncharted territories of conjecture, speculation, projection of gut feelings, or pure expressions of beliefs and opinions, I very quickly withdraw myself. Otherwise it becomes the same old game of going in circles with dialogue not advancing to any point of being consequential.
I recognize I am better off reading a well-researched and documented work by reputable authors, who express their theses by substantiating their arguments, and displaying a sense of logic and reasoning. Sure, I don’t have to buy any point of view or be convinced of the offered theses. But then my indulgence with such material in itself becomes a productive experience.
The downside of this developing attitude on my part where I shy away from most debates, discussions and arguments—most of those that tend to be redundant in accordance with my metric— has made me a more contemplative and circumspect individual, no longer willing to throw his hat in the arena of interactions very common amongst friends or adversaries. I find this to be a departure from my past tendency of getting embroiled with gusto whenever any issue, contentious or otherwise, presented itself. This is because of the realization that by getting involved, many a times, I was also guilty of the same drivel which I so much detest now.
I was reflecting the other day about why the more learned people are guarded and not too forthcoming in contributing their two bits to the common, what I would term as, “coffee table exchange of point of views” that are belted out with steadfast conviction.
The recognition that truth is elusive and very hard to discover is the driving force behind wise people who abstain from partaking in discourses where factual considerations and serious inquiry is absent.
No they are not doubting Thomas’ but they do doubt the relevance of simplistic and unfounded solutions or assertions. They remind me of angels knowingly staying away from where fools readily rush in. The fools are always armed with their simplistic solutions and ever ready explanations of any issue, except the issue of their own stupidity.
The silent minority comprises of a special breed which has evolved and graduated to a point where its members recognize the importance of the adage, “silence is golden” and have further qualified it by adding that it is golden when the audience has no appetite for any reliance on facts or figures.
This is not to say that facts and figures are so neatly available where they can’t be used to lie and misrepresent. At the expense of being cliché I would say: “Figures don’t lie but liars figure.” This is the reason every person should strive to recognize the importance of viewing things critically and not taking them on their face value. A fact is not such until it has been truly scrutinized.
That is why it becomes essential to understand the basis of any argument even if presented with statistics. The examination of the source of the statistics and their relevance in the context of the theses becomes all so important.
This is the intelligent approach and should be the main thrust in the educational process of any individual. In fact educational institutions, if they could simply teach the methodology and the importance of critical thinking should be deemed as having more than justified their existence.
John Patrick Shanley the talented Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award–winning American playwright, very aptly put it: Doubt requires more courage than conviction does, and more energy; because conviction is a resting place and doubt is infinite…”