In the words of Voltaire – well not actually it turns out – but nevertheless a quote attributed to him reads: “I don’t agree with what you say but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”
It sounds a tad bit excessive, but I do think the thought is an important one to reflect on.
Learning to welcome someone else's differing opinion, which you may wholeheartedly disagree with, is not the easiest thing to do. However, I think it is very valuable to recognize that people's lived experiences may have led them to a whole other train of thought.
Some trains may even seem to be running on a whole different set of tracks all together.
Nevertheless, whether others’ opinions align perfectly with our own beliefs or not, they are often a benefit to society because they reflect a different way of seeing the world.
Allowing room for a plurality of voices and expressions is far better than shying away from hard topics where one idea may remain dominant and absolute.
Accepting that there will always be opposing ideas can help us challenge our own and perhaps make us more willing to entertain others that we may not have considered.
With more social interactions moving to a virtual format, I think both young and old social media users are less willing to engage with or have real conversations with people they know to have different perspectives.
With the click of a button, you can silence a peer's viewpoints from ever appearing on your platform's feed. You also know who to avoid planning real-world interactions based on online behaviour.
It’s not completely our fault, social media algorithms started doing it long before we realized that we were interacting in a digital echo chamber. Now we are aware of it, but we typically continue to fall prey to the comfort of being surrounded by voices we agree with.
What good is it having access to all these unique and varying ideas at the tip of your finger if you are unwilling to listen, learn or reflect on them?
Often, we are only given two options, option A or B. Of course, in multiple choice you’re given up to four and that seems reasonable. In everyday life there is a whole alphabet worth of options to be explored and pondered.
I feel as though we are living in a time where it has become increasingly difficult to engage with people with different beliefs and still come away with a positive experience. What a loss of richness and diversity in our social circles, communities and even our own understanding of the world.
If everyone has their own truth, wouldn’t it be a benefit to understand how someone sees the world, even if we can’t necessarily relate?
Returning to the beginning, there’s a variation that expresses the same notion that I somewhat prefer: I may detest what you write, but I would give my life to make it possible for you to continue to write.
