***DEBATING***
Even though I post a lot of short stories with controversial
topics and post John Oliver videos on my Face Book page, I actually don’t like
debating that much. I agree with the idea of being open to new ideas and not
being completely coddled from the opposing side. However, if someone tries to
engage me in a debate, the most talking points I’ll ever have in that
conversation is…maybe two. After those talking points are on the table, I have
nothing left and I’m completely vulnerable to the limitless number of talking
points the other guy has. Being on this jobber losing streak in a debate has
nothing to do with the fact that I’m right or wrong. It just means that I don’t
have an unlimited number of talking points. I suppose I could cure that with
extensive research, but that only adds maybe two or three more talking points
to the already short list.
It didn’t dawn on me just how bad my debating skills were
until I moved into my dorm room at Western
Washington University
in 2007. I had a roommate named Carl who was always helpful to me and an all
around nice guy. However, when he tried to engage me in a debate, I would sit
there in silence not knowing how to answer his talking points. Carl described
himself as a “conservative with a strong liberal twist”, but most of his
talking points were right-leaning in nature. He’d present all of these
carefully-worded arguments that went on for about a minute or a minute and a
half and it always drove me nuts that I couldn’t debunk all of them.
So whenever I hear somebody talk about open-mindedness, I
always tell them it’s a two way street. In other words, if you want me to be
open to your viewpoints, you have to be open to mine. But that’s the problem:
my viewpoints only have a lifespan of one burst of alphabet soup. After that,
it’s over. I’m like a bottle rocket when it comes to debating, which is why I
avoid it most of the time.
Of course, there’s another reason why I avoid debates and
it’s because I have this fear of offending my best friends by justifying the
things they hate. It’s the reason why I don’t wave a Richard Dawkins book in
the face of one of my Christian friends. Not only is it offensive to do, but it
could kill the friendship. I put love and friendship before politics and
religion every single time. If somebody gives me a ride when I need one or
cooks me a nice meal or gives me twenty bucks to buy my favorite book, why
should it matter what side of the political spectrum they’re on? Of course, I
wouldn’t accept a million dollars from Donald Trump, but that’s
because…well…he’s Donald Trump. But you get what I’m saying, right?
So if you see me back out of an argument, it’s not because
I’m closing myself off to that person. It’s because unlike that person, I can’t
keep talking forever and ever and ever. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to
watch some more John Oliver videos and chase them down with a rant by Immortal
Technique about vegetarianism. Peace! I’m out!
***SWAMPLANDIA***
As many of you have noticed either from my Deviant Art journals
or my Good Reads account, I’ve been chipping away at “Swamplandia” by Karen
Russell for a little under two months now. According to my Good Reads account,
I’m 83% done with it, which means I’m going to spend one day blowing through
the rest of it. Even though I’m not finished with it yet, I’ve already decided
that it’s going to receive a mixed grade (three stars) when I review it. The
concept is great, the depressing themes are great, and even the idea of a World
of Darkness theme part ignites the dark fantasy passion within me. But what
gives it a three star rating is the pacing. It’s slow enough to tire my eyes
out after five or six pages of reading. I don’t know what exactly to owe the
pacing to, but it’s definitely a slow one and that would explain why I’ve spent
so much time with this book. That and it’s 400 pages long.
***WRESTLING DIALOGUE OF THE DAY***
JERRY LAWLER: If Emma was a
vegetable, she’d be a cute-cumber.
MAURO RANALLO: The world is
pun-derful and I’m glad you agree, King.
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