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A little heart-to-heart with you, my friends:
People who know me IRL know that I& #39;m very vocal about my political opinions. It is imperative that everybody gets as much info about the things they care about as possible. Having said that, I choose to be apolitical in here.
People who know me IRL know that I& #39;m very vocal about my political opinions. It is imperative that everybody gets as much info about the things they care about as possible. Having said that, I choose to be apolitical in here.
The reason for this decision wasn& #39;t easy. I was tempted on so many occasions to chime-in on issues. It& #39;s much easier to voice out my opinions on topical issues as an anonymous account. After all, what am I risking as a nameless, faceless person in here?
Social Media platforms have this weird effect of breaking everyone down into a bunch of characters on your screen. This dehumanizing aspect of Twitter (or any SM) often prompts us to say things that we normally wouldn& #39;t in person. We get emotional cues and body language cues IRL.
Take that human element away, and add the comfort that anonymity provides, and you have a raging cesspool of opinions and half-truths that, while well-intentioned as they "sometimes" can be, might not always necessarily capture the ground reality of what& #39;s happening in the world.
So, I could either choose to voice out my political "opinions" in here, and try to influence people to win an online argument, or I could follow my own advice and remain apolitical, not adding any more noise to the cacophony; hoping that people would do their own research.
So, what I am going to ask of you, is to diversify the sources where you get your news from. Keep an open mind. Come out of your bubble. Not all liberals are hot-headed, knee-jerk reactors. Not all conservatives are bigots and fascists. There are always exceptions, of course.
The next time we feel tempted to call each other names, let& #39;s remind ourselves that we are still real people talking to other real people out there. There is a very real probability that you are "IRL friends" with the very set of people you are name-calling online, anonymously.
Finally, Question (not Taunt) everything. No ideology - Be it Political or Religious, is above criticism. Question your Politicians, Saints and Prophets. But remember to be respectful at the end of the day; for what is skeptical to you, may be sacred to another.
We humans are richer as a species because of the diverse world-view, that each one of us has, that shapes us into distinct entities. So, Let us celebrate our differences, instead of weaponizing it to hate our neighbors.
"Varadhu Kutty - Over & Out"
Peace.
"Varadhu Kutty - Over & Out"
Peace.
