In this society full of intolerance, free opinion has become the object of attacks by those who think differently. What has happened to us? Where is the respect for others and their freedoms? If as an individual we lose our freedom to feel, to think, and to express our opinion, what freedom are we left with?
This is what I want to talk about. How we are losing our capacity for dialogue and interaction- and, with it, to be able to debate points of view or new perspectives; since whenever there are two different opinions, instead of a conversation, we end up in an argument attacking the other, believing ourselves to be corrected, why? We lack modesty and humility. We need to understand that, in life, there are hundreds of different positions and that claiming to know the absolute truth about something is, most of the time, absurd. I am going to use the mythical phrase attributed to Socrates “I only know that I know nothing” as a reflection; since if such an important person allowed himself to doubt his knowledge, how can we then be so sure that what we say is not wrong, as not to have the least respect for the person with whom we argue? And even if we were 100% sure that it is true, that we are not wrong and indeed the other is, does that then give us the right to treat him as we please?
Why am I overemphasizing this particular topic? Because in any case, whether we agree on ideology or not, we must learn to have a conversation with whoever is next to us, regardless of the position they adopt. Besides, who says we won’t be able to convince him to think like us? Or that we won’t end up learning something new? We must always respect the other since we cannot try to convey our ideals if instead of talking, we dedicate ourselves to attack because this only makes the other person closed off to our ideas and end up feeling offended – with just cause. Ultimately, passing the content of our speech unnoticed and giving greater importance to the negative charge that we have given.
Finally, we must be clear that with a person who thinks differently, we will find two possibilities after speaking: that they manage to change their perspective and agree with us, or that we continue to differ. disagreeing is not a bad thing, but necessary; and that by giving an opinion and then discussing our ideas, we are evolving.