Argumentative? Yes.
In the olden days, if a person were to google something, he couldn’t. He’d have to pore through thousands of rough-edged pages to find his answers. Compared to that era, we are living in blissful times wherein you can search for anything anywhere as long as you have opposable thumbs. Technology has made life so easy that it’s difficult to fathom the overall impact on our psyche. One of the damning effects must be the indifference we exhibit towards those we feel aren’t cool enough. Although we are able to get in touch with people who stay 7000 miles away instantly, we fail to empathize as naturally. There’s a concentration camp inside our head which decides who goes where.
We judge all the time. Sometimes, we keep our judgements to ourselves and at other times, we splash them in public in an attempt to feel better about ourselves. Very rarely do these judgements arrive without the crutches of confirmation bias. It’s impossible, if not extremely difficult, to separate ourselves from the verdicts we come up with. At the end of the day, we can always play the victim card that has “WE ARE JUST HUMANS!” embossed on it. But if we pause to understand what’s going on, we might be able to catch ourselves in the embarrassing act of undermining our humanity.
Of course, this act is more prominently showcased in the online world where correcting others is a popular pastime. Hardly anybody logs in anywhere thinking that they know less than anybody else. More often than not, netizens enter the online party with a larger-than-sun halo of hubris. The rays of rigidity trickle carelessly on the screen. There’s little to no scope for any sort of rapprochement with reality, let alone truth.
Speaking of which, everybody stays faithful to their own version of truth. And there’s nothing wrong with it either. We can’t find an absolute version under any circumstance. Problems emerge when you try to force your version on others. Whatever one believes, in their individual capacity, is nobody else’s business. Something we tend to forget as soon as we cross the mighty river called Internet.
Yes, arguments are good. They are great, in fact, but mostly ethereal in nature. Proving 1+1 = 2 is not the same as proving def = klm. The former has the benefit of math; the latter has the drawback of ethics. How are we supposed to judge two actions accurately, keeping in mind elements like time, situation, etc? It’s an argumentative trap. That’s all.
Then again, being argumentative is not an issue. You tend to lose touch with the reality when you’re afraid to requestion your beliefs. To make up for this fear, you exert too much energy in questioning those who don’t conform to your beliefs. Ideally speaking, you shouldn’t believe in anything. Nothing is constant; neither the morals nor the values. What we presume to be bad today was once normal. Similarly, what we see as normal today will be predicated as evil tomorrow. Law of (human) nature. To ensure we aren’t stuck with one set of an ideology, it’s important to question everything.
Arguing can be a good start, not necessarily an equally good end product. Argue with everyone within the limits of decorum. Argue with those who stand up for what you’re willing to stand up for. Argue with those who won’t leave their seat no matter what. Argue with the theorists. Argue with the conspiracy theorists. Argue with folks who are openly hypocritical. Argue with folks adept at hiding their hypocrisy. Argue with the nice ones. Argue with the coarse ones. Argue with those in support of life. Argue with those in support of war. Argue with the mascots. Argue with the foot soldiers. Argue with the wise souls from both the wings. Argue with the fools from both the wings. Argue with the self-appointed judges. Argue with the self-appointed lawyers. Argue with the assholes who can’t see the difference. Argue with your Indian friends. Argue with your Pakistani enemies. Argue with the capitalists. Argue with the commies with wealthy parents. Argue with the careerists. Argue with the sweet-smelling farts who call themselves hipsters. Argue with the last of the remaining hippies. Argue with the free birds from the past. Argue with the caged feathers from the future.
Chances are these individuals — there’s no such a thing as a majority; it’s always the minority of an individual — might accuse you of being an opposer. And if that happens, you must be doing something good with your time. Also, for somebody who avoid arguments at all cost, i surely encourage others to make up for my absence.
