I've spent a lot of time debating on Facebook, other social platforms and forums.
- I mean, A LOT of time. It have happened more than a few times, where I only stopped to walk or feed the dog, or just to get a tiny bit of sleep. Though, at the same time, I was also reading a lot of books, watched youtube video's, and read blogs, news articles, etc. While I was trying to form my own opinions and values.
At first, I was really curious as to what people thought, and why they thought it. I enjoyed listening to, and reading about, other peoples thoughts. - I wanted to know what they thought about the things they where advocating. So I tried to get to understand their position, through questioning. That quickly changed though.
- As I asked questions, I would often get angry, condescending, patronizing, and just copy/pasted replies. Most of the time, the people I was debating, was contradicting themselves just with a single sentence. Which was strange to me, since I try to be as consistant as possible.
And it really wasn't a few out of the people I debated. It was actually by far, the majority of them. Just a simple question, would get the most insane reactions I have ever recieved. And after a while, I got tired of it. I started looking down on people, because, well, I am more intelligent than the average person. And I let it go to my head.
- I started feeling that I couldn't be wrong at all, for the simply reason, that other people where so inconsistent with their opinions and what they believed in. - So I completely stopped asking "why", when I interacted with other people. I just blasted through the comments, to find anything I could use to provoke people, while telling them how wrong they where.
I started thinking about this, after I joined Steemit, and took on some debates. People act differently on here, than they do on a platform like facebook. If you don't behave, you risk getting flagged, which in turn makes you lose reputation. - It's actualy an amazing thing to see. The people I've been interacting with, have been surprisingly polite, and some I've started following, just for that, even without having read any of their actual posts.
- The funny thing is, that I've only been on here for a couple of days (3 days, according to my introduction). And already I've learned an amazing number of new things, and I've revized a lot about how I interact with other people. - I generally like to be polite, no doubt there. But at the same time, I see it at something you should earn from me, with your own behavior. And so far, only a tiny amount of people have given me a reason, to not be polite. Which is something I very much enjoy.
So, when did you stop asking the question "why"?