…anything, if I keep referring to them derogatively instead of talking to them as people. I know, I know, there are super bad-faith actors out there who it’s better to “defeat” than “debate”, but I was never a fighter.
The number one reason I write my li’l essays is so that I can link to them in future discussions, building complex ideas as if I were composing functions. They’re also great reference for myself. I was writing way less complex libraries back when I had to hold it all in my head.
But every now and then I find one that was written while I was ranting and raving and choir-preaching and venting. Those aren’t particularly useful when I would’ve wanted to link them in a conversation with someone on the fence or even on the other “side”.
I want to try to rewrite some of them when I get an opportunity to do so later.
It can be difficult because all that ranting and raving can make it easier for someone who is already on the same side to hear me out and listen to the additional nuance I’d wanna add.
Like, say I wanna ban cars but not ambulances and community transport. Me being like “oh ambulances are so great” is more likely to be misunderstood by a fellow car-hater than if I was clear and explicit about how much I hated those [insert derogatory anti-car rant here].
Not to sound all manipulative and deliberate about this stuff. It’s all emotion-driven, I just write what I feel, but what I do feel when I’m talking to someone is that I care about them and I wanna meet them with their language and translate ideas into their worldview.