Through my years on Scratch, I’ve stumbled across many opinions I disagree with or find problematic. And nearly every time, I am tempted to make some sort of response. I mean, Scratch is a platform largely used by kids. And kids by nature tend to be pretty trusting of any seemingly logical opinion. I don’t want people to be pushed towards (what I consider) harmful ideologies without their full knowledge. But I’ve come to realize that instead of addressing each individual thing, there is one topic I can talk about instead that will cover it all in a way that’s also pretty unbiased. Critical thinking. In summary, critical thinking means not believing everything you’re told, even if it’s said by an authority figure or someone you like/trust. Getting the facts, and making your own opinions. Because practically any argument can be phrased in a way that seems reasonable, no matter now abhorrent it might truly be. From what I’ve observed, the “winners” of any internet argument is who remains the chillest. Who gets less worked up. The determining factor in who is “reasonable” and who is “wrong” very rarely has anything to do with the actual content of their argument. Just who phrases it well. This isn’t great. It means people who see that argument will make their opinions based off of the phrasing, not the facts. Here’s an actual example I saw (not on Scratch). It was a traditional 1950s style drawing of a working husband and housewife, except the stereotypical roles were swapped. The man was bringing the woman her slippers and telling her he hoped she’d had a nice day at work, and that dinner was ready. He was wearing an apron, she was wearing a suit. In response to the drawing, someone had commented sarcastically “Way to solve gender inequality, be sexist towards men instead.” Now surface level, this does seem like a reasonable argument. Yeah, implying men are inferior to women is bad, just like implying women are inferior to men is. Great argument commenter, makes sense, the artist of that image was clearly taking this whole feminism thing too far and just spreading hate in a different way. Implying men should be America 1950s style subservient househusbands to their wives? That’s undeniably not a great take. Except… let’s think through it a little more. If we pretended we never saw the commenter’s response, what would be YOUR take on the image? When I took into account the historical aspect of this art piece, where women were for so long generally accepted as less than men, and the current prejudice that still exists against women in the modern day, I got a different conclusion. To me, it seemed like a surface level take to say the artist was genuinely claiming men were inferior to women by this image. Perhaps instead, she was using the role swap to better help a male audience understand how SHE feels in her experience as a woman. To help them gain empathy to many women’s experiences. It wasn’t about being sexist towards men as some sort of “revenge”, as the commenter seemed to think. With the perspective I gained from stopping and thinking about it, it seemed obvious to me that the artist was trying to show men how it felt to be treated as lesser, so that they could better understand HER life, and the feelings and experiences of many other women. And the commenter had missed the point entirely. Even though I could logically understand his argument, and the misconception that it came from, I completely disagreed with him. I didn’t jump to conclusions. I took the time to look at the image and think for myself. And I became more aware and informed from it. —— I think any opinion you come to face should be treated this way. Don’t take someone’s word for it. Think about the bigger picture, and come to your own conclusion. Other’s opinions can, and often should, inform yours, but it should be a CONSCIOUS CHOICE to believe anyone, based on logical thoughts about their opinion. Not an automatic response. Even if the person speaking is: - phrasing their argument in a way that makes it seem obvious - older than you - someone you look up to/admire - your friend - a parent - a teacher - someone famous - someone in power When it comes to opinions, don’t just take someone’s word for it. Don’t be overly skeptical, but don’t be thoughtless either. Think about it. Ask others their thoughts. Even those you disagree with. Consider the context. Consider your values. Do more research on the topic. Consider the biases of the person making the argument. Then, make your conclusion. Agree, disagree, some mix, it doesn’t matter. As long as you’re conscious about your opinion. Even if it’s the same conclusion you started with, you’ll still be more informed. And be willing to edit it if met with new data. —— Two years ago, I had a class assignment where I was told to make a list of my values. The rules I lived my life by. I’ve just explained to you one of those. Be the correct amount of stubborn.
To clarify, I’m also not saying you should argue with people online. I usually recommend against that actually. Just to be conscious when taking in information and forming opinions.
