Your position on things doesn’t have to be divisive.
Simple Radical Idea 04
In Tech, it’s the numerous inflammatory “well intended / out of context” subreddits, Twitter threads, Github Issue comments and Slack discussions that expose the ugly head of self-righteous certainty at the expense of respectful communication.
The common counter-reasoning “they were well intended”, “it was taken out of context” is stale.
What I would like to know is, why express ambiguity in the first instance?
Why do we (particularly in Tech) feel inclined to be divisive in our views at all? What if: your position on things didn’t have to be divisive?
As aspiring and capable individuals, is it our fascination for acquiring credibility through disposing glimpses of knowledge, that works to the detriment of groups?
Is individualism making tech divisive?
When we defend a view with self-righteous certainty so that it is more correct than another’s, yes it is.
When the language we use is spoken as fact, alienating others and condemning their own formed views, yes it is.
But, aspiration is not just about individuality.
Take a broader view and instead speak to bring people together.
Share a little kindness for one another
Think before you type. Add value to add to what is being discussedⁱ. Concede other’s views for their merit. The substance of what you or they say is often not more right or more wrong, it is context and intention that changes.
The need for respectful debate is ever present.
Be helpful.
ⁱ Taken from Product Hunt’s Makers Discussion Guidelines
