I’ve written before in this space that I typically avoid watching the news, don’t get involved with politics and make a point to not get sucked into the pointless “empty vessel” debates of social media. I avoid the news and politics because the vast majority of it is negative and I see no point in constantly injecting negativity into my headspace. The act of debating politics on social media is a waste of time because you’re simply not going to change a complete stranger’s opinion. Someone inclined to spend an inordinate amount of time arguing politics on social media has no interest in understanding the argument of the opposing side.

All too often there’s an event that polarizes America. Inevitably, the opinion of those reacting to the event is broken down via their political affiliation. The rush to condemn happens, the opinion pieces are written, and depending on what side you fall on the narrative conveniently fits your worldview. In many cases, when the facts start to trickle out, they don’t fit the narrative, typically occupying the gray area in between. When this happens, some people change their mind, but for the majority of those occupying both ends of the right/left spectrum, no amount of evidence to the contrary will change their opinion. Twitter and Facebook turn into a giant echo chamber of confirmation bias. What results is massive wasted energy by people that probably have more pressing things to do then argue with complete strangers on social media.

It’s all a colossal waste of time.

It’s OK to change your opinion on something.

This, for me, this process has been a journey. It’s not easy to admit that you might be wrong about something. In my twenties and thirties, back when I was politically obsessed, I would regularly get into long, drawn out arguments with friends and family about politics. Many of these arguments would turn into near shouting matches. I didn’t have the maturity or capability to embrace alternative viewpoints.

Since I wasn’t actually listening to them, I never really heard them.

Stoic philosopher Epictetus wrote about this in his discourses:

“There are two things that must be rooted out in human beings- arrogant opinion and mistrust. Arrogant opinion expects that there is nothing further needed, and mistrust assumes that under the torrent of circumstances there can be no happiness. ”

— Epictetus, Discourses, 3.14.8

Let’s use first impressions as an example. We meet people and often form an immediate opinion of them. Research into first impressions has shown us that we can form an first impression from a person’s face in as little as 30 to 40 milliseconds, and we often start doing this as infants, categorizing people as “trustworthy” or “untrustworthy.” According to Princeton University Psychology Professor Alexander Todorov, “we immediately form impressions from appearance, we agree on these impressions and we act on them.”

How often has your first impression of someone turned out to be completely wrong?

Back to the current social media outrage event of the moment…

Fight the urge to judge and condemn immediately. Approach life with the mindset that you are open to your opinion being changed if the evidence and facts support it. It’s a liability to constantly look at every situation and scenario as further evidence to validate your worldview. Embrace the fact that there will be people that are more experience and more educated on some topics. As Ryan Holiday said, “we’re not as smart and wise as we’d like to think we are. If we ever do want to become wise, it comes from the questioning from humility— not, as so many would like to think, from certainty, mistrust and arrogance.”

In regards to the current outrage of the day, take a step back and assess. Avoid the trap of projecting bad on others simply because you don’t agree with their point of view. There is always more to the situation than exists on the surface. Finally, it’s a pointless endeavor to waste energy arguing with strangers on the Internet. If you do decide to debate, be confident in your views but still open to changing your opinion.

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