I read a post by @tarazkp in which he discussed the problem with heavy regulation of what we can or cannot talk to each other about at work and how it effects the development of relationships link. One thing in particular had great meaning to me and stood out as a central point.
It also means that due to the lack of cross-pollination of thoughts and ideas, people tend to seek out areas that they are able to express themselves more freely, which turn into echo chambers that without checks, balances and questioning, eventuate in polarization of viewpoints and extremes of various kinds.
This reminded me of something I read recently about a teacher, college level I believe, who felt that this statement was true and that it resulted in many young man being drawn into websites and extremist groups simply to be able to discus things they were thinking and feeling, which might make others uncomfortable or could potentially offend people. The young men didn't have any firm or formed ideologies in the beginning, they were just looking for a place to talk and sort these ideas and observations out and try to make sense of the world around them. Because they were afraid to discus their feelings and could only discus these observations in places where some of their ideas were ideologies there was no way to logically explore its validity and come to different conclusions or beliefs.
The teacher went so far as to frequent these extremist websites and engaging these young men in thoughtful balanced and nonjudgmental discussions, which validated their feelings but lead to more balanced and less extremist viewpoints. His goal was to rescue them from these ideological extremist positions through dialogue. He successfully provided a ear to these young men and felt he was able to rescue some of them from these groups by providing them with a sounding board and helping them seek a more balanced view of the world. He was criticized for writing on these websites and for going to their meetings. But to him it was a necessity because he feared that a large part of a generation of young men were trapped in these organizations.
I had to read this a few times. And It took me a while to understand his position. But it became clear to me and now resonates with me.
In order to understand how another sees a situation or a problem we need to allow them the time and space to describe it from where they are at emotionally, intellectually, culturally or sometimes geographically.
Point of view is difficult because we only possess our point of view. But our world and our challenges are not one or two dimensional. Our world and it’s challenges are multidimensional, so by definition they require multiple points of view to see the whole. But in order to get people to share what we cannot see, we must be willing to listen and respond in a respectful, non-aggressive fashion, but also truly listen and process their point of view. This platform is a microcosm of the world in that regard, and our interactions here are both reflective of that reality and good training for our roles in the world.
✍️ By Shortsegments
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