Surrounded by a whole lot of nothing

I remember the day I made my first and last comment on LinkedIn. It was a discussion on a manned Mars mission and how it should be abandoned because the odds against the voyagers surviving were high. I remarked that Columbus’ crew probably faced the same fears. Boy, did I get absolutely shredded for that remark. You would think I was advocating a tax hike.

The sheer volume and vitriolic tone of the responses convinced me they weren’t looking for a discussion, they wanted someone to put down so they could feel better about their position. Not a problem, I was confident in my perspective but this would be my last post on LinkedIn. I remember one genius in particular saying that Columbus did not have to carry water or oxygen with him. Oxygen, maybe, but fresh water is always an essential part of an ocean voyage cargo. We won’t even discuss the navigation challenges.

Troll attack!

It’s something I see all the time: someone makes a post, someone else expresses a contrary view, and everyone pounces on the conversation like a pack of rabid wolves. When did we lose tolerance? When did we lose the concept of discussion? Unfortunately, in this age of social media and absolute opinions, it makes a sad sort of sense. Why bother being civil when we’re anonymous? Yet, I wonder how many people have already decided it’s just not worth the venom to express their opinion.

I don’t know about you, but this deeply disturbs me. I’ve always valued differing opinions. Yeah, I frequently do fact-checking on my wife when she has a different opinion, and no, we won’t discuss my percentages right. In my professional career, I quickly learned I wasn’t always right. My team kept me out of troubled waters more than a few times. My first talk with a new team was always a discussion on telling me I was wrong. Of course, it always took a few brave souls before they believed me.

I blame our lack of tolerance on social media. It’s all too easy to find groups of people willing to accept any absurd idea and run with it. Between our last election and COVID, conspiracy theories were popping out of every nook and cranny of the Internet. Worse, once an idea takes hold, they will defend that idea tooth and nail, no matter how absurd. Common sense seems to have lost all meaning. The only safe course for the rest of us is never to engage.

Really, he’s naked

Heaven help any poor soul willing to say the emperor has no clothes. Even after the tailor admits it was a hoax, people still insist the emperor is well dressed. (I know it’s a weak analogy, but I’m limited to that or calling people lemmings.)

Obviously, people can and do shout down contrary opinions to the point that other folks often feel it’s not worth making the effort to express an opinion, leaving the field wide open to the radicals. I often wonder if these people are so reactive to contrary opinions because of low self esteem or because their own position can’t be defended. Certainly, their remarks seldom display reasoned thoughts.

I think back to how many times people on my teams saved me from serious mistakes by speaking out. I think about how many times my wife was right, and I know the value of people willing to speak up.

Sadly, this post will change nothing. The people shouting down contrary opinions stopped reading this somewhere around the second paragraph. They’ve already left this site to read about the latest techniques our government is using to brainwash us. Subliminal shading images in all government publications?

The people who already had a taste of this negative feedback have already decided it’s simply not worth the frustration and are sitting back to watch the inevitable crash. We all know how well herd mentality worked for the buffalo. Maybe a few of them should have spoken up.

© 2024, Byron Seastrunk. All rights reserved.