Competition Note:- This is part of the #BATTLEROYALE. Best of luck to my team and the three other teams. I hope they enjoy the competition and the other users have a good time reading the takes.
Introduction: - For this competition when I am writing multiple takes, I will be thinking a lot about the thought processes that have appeared over and over again in my opinions on GaG. For this take, I was struck by the initial message about the competition so when I got the chance to take part in the contest, the thought stayed in my head. I looked at the phrases like "The Ultimate Girls Vs Guys Showdown", "The Backbone Of GaG", "Debate" and "Big Time Fun". Okay, fair enough there are people who love that element of debate but for me, discussions are a process of learning and for helping each other. The mysterious 0.04 % will be explained later in the take.
Take Notes: - If this take goes against the spirit of the competition, I apologise to my team and admin who came up with the competition but it is just the nature of my personality to write this way.
(1) GaG Becomes Society And Vice Versa
For the sake of openness and plus the fact that most people know that I have had multiple back to back accounts on GaG that I change as I feel the need to develop a new GaG persona, not willy-nilly because I actually gave up a Master account at one stage. Anyway back to the take, through 3 accounts I have been here on this site for a year and five months, I think it is fair to say that my belief has grown that GaG has become a microcosm for society maybe slightly exaggerated but in the era of instant social media, this does tend to happen.
I have seen all sorts of discussions and debates but there is always one thing in common once a "Hot Issue" is brought up, whatever the intentions from a troll baiting question to a genuine enquiry, it will disintegrate into a argument and vitriol within a couple of opinions. There will be abuse, offence, blocking, butthurt and freedom of speech expressions within hours. I always use the expression of "Trench Warfare" once any of the trigger words are used, it is "Everyone into the trenches and start lobbing your grenades". I must intersect here before anybody goes mad in the opinions, I am no saint and have lost my cool several times on GaG , getting petty at times.
(2) My Hoped For Dynamic With Discussions On Gag Or In Society
For the purpose of the Take I will talk about discussions in the GaG scenario as it is easier to explain but I will be using it as a symbol of society as a whole. In my view what should hopefully happen on GaG is that most issues are split into two areas, a personal issue and societal issues, there may be some crossover but it is cleaner to keep them separate. Anyway the dynamics are basically the same, a person comes forward with a personal problem or a view on an issue in society. Now it is highly unlikely that everyone will agree with that person so what we must do is present our opinion or view in a polite, even handed manner.
In the case of a personal issue, the person will probably look at all the opinions and throw in their own, choosing one or a mix as a path forward. In a societal based question, there will be in all likelihood two sides of which there will be several degrees of shade on each side. I believe that all sides should express their views and give opinions on each others' ideas (politely of course) but at the end of the day we must look at what the people have in common rather than what divide us.
(3) The Mixing Colours Analogy
When I was preparing a few take ideas for this competition, I came up with this analogy of a couple arguing about what colour to paint their wall. I thought of a mixing of their preferred colours to produce a new colour as an answer to their problem and an example of compromise. I found this image of mixed colours and liked it so indulge me a little bit.
(4) No Opinion Is More Important Than Anyone Else's
I was searching for a quote to back up the premise of my next paragraph and the image below seemed to fit the bill. Unfortunately in life we meet people who think their opinion is better than ours, more right. A person with true self knowledge will only be too happy to impart something they know about and sit back to listen, to learn about something they don't know about. Only a fool thinks they know it all.
(5) Real Life Examples
In order to show my point, I wanted to pick two examples from my lifetime. Whenever the talk turns to extremism on Gag, I always talk about how meaningful communication and compromise, finding a shared path forward will push extremists further and further to the side allowing peaceful moderates to evolve progressively together rather than apart. I was born in 1969 in the Republic of Ireland, living all my 47 years here. If you had told the teen me in 1984 that Sinn Fein and DUP would share power in Northern Ireland (where 3,000 were killed from 1969 to 1994 in "The Troubles") and Nelson Mandela would leave prison becoming President of South Africa in the near future. I would have laughed at you and said you were deluded but ...... as a result of extensive peace talks in both countries the following happened
Martin McGuinness (Sinn Fein) and Ian Paisley (DUP) not only shared power but became firm friends earning the nickname "The Chuckle Brothers"
Nelson Mandela and the last white President of South Africa FW De Klerk receiving Nobel Peace Prize in 1993
(6) Where does this 0.04% figure come from?
Again this is a figure that came to me in the last few days as I was waiting for the competition to start and I had a few ideas for takes floating around in my head but I couldn't pin them down because we didn't get topics until today. As I said earlier on I have had a few back to back accounts, I have been here 17 months, I have been through all the levels, I have made many wonderful friends, I have probably learnt a lot too. I have got over 90k points, given over 50k opinions, got over 8k MHOs, asked around 100 questions, wrote 11 takes , maybe given 25k plus replies/comments.
I have a rough figure of around 76k interactions, many have passed me by, some have angered me, some made be blush, some have made me sad, a lot have made me smile but the ones that mean most to me are the approximately 30 with friends or even people I didn't know who wrote back and said "Thanks, that really helped" or "I needed someone to talk to" or "I was in a bad spot" or "It was just good to talk to someone" plus the odd time it was felt I gave good advice.
( 30/76,000 x 100 = 0.04 % Rounded Up )
Conclusion: - I heard this quote on the TV the other day and decided to use it in one of my takes
I know so many people who like the cut and thrust of aggressive debate but I want to put forward the case for constructive discussion and find a path forward that suits all to some degree rather than a winner/loser when that loser comes away aggrieved against the winner maybe plotting ways to get back at the winner until they can become the winner which sends off the new loser on same path as old loser.
We get stuck in a cycle that can be only broken by completely vanquishing one side, something that is very hard to do or we move steadily towards a point where the only prospect of peace is Mutually Assured Destruction. I for one am not a great fan of this path and would like to explore other options for a solution that appeals to both sides whether that discussion is personal, societal, political or international. We have to look for a world where people of different views, genders, sexualities, faiths, races etc can live together in peace and not be fed to the extremist elements within their groups.
Most Helpful Opinions