The Greatest Idea in the World
When struggling to write a paper defending one side of an issue for Government class in high school, my dad gave me some advice. He told me that the best debaters know how to argue both sides of the issue. It makes sense. Being able to foresee how the other person sees the issue, can help you in defending your side. I assume it’s a fundamental part of debate. But my school didn’t have debate club, or whatever.
Sometimes, I take the other side of an issue, even if it’s not the one I’d side with. And even if it’s not an issue at all. I do it just for the sake of uncovering the possible problems that may arise. I do it to bring up other points. I frequently wonder if that makes me a pessimist. I don’t think so, though sometimes I *am* pessimistic (just as often as optimistic).
I’d like to think of it mostly as realism. I think people, by nature, are disagreeable. Even if you have what could be considered the greatest idea in the world, someone will have a problem with it. Someone will think they have a better way to do it. Someone will think life was better before your idea was realized. Sometimes, these people will be right. Sometimes, these disagreeable people have the knowledge and capability to make your “greatest idea in the world” into something better.
This way of thinking (pessimistic, realistic, argumentative, whatever you want to call it) brings change. From Blu-Ray discs on our shelf to the mighty mouse on my desk, to the “new” Facebook open in a tab in my browser, to browser tabs. And to the cell phone you might be reading this post on. Everything around us exists because someone thought differently from everyone else around them.
And everything around you right now? Right now, someone’s thinking of a better way to do it.
March 24th, 2009 at 9:49 am
I do this frequently and some people can become very irritated by it. Whether it’s a point I support or whether I’m just playing Devil’s Advocate, people rarely handle well being told they’re wrong. Specifically when I go 8 Mile on them and take away their argument by using it against myself before they get a chance to use it. That really bugs them.
What frustrates me about all of this Facebook drama (EVERY time they make any change at all) is that people, for the most part (and maybe it’s just me) are being so close-minded about it. I mean, if we still had the exact same Facebook from when it was still called “The Facebook” years ago and it didn’t have half of the new features it has added over the years, people probably wouldn’t even log in. I mean…even two years ago, it was so much less interactive and engaging, but people want to have something to complain about every time they change the home page or convert fan pages to be more like profile pages.
I agree that someone’s thinking of a better way to do everything around me right now. I just hope I can stay open-minded enough to accept the changes when they come.
March 24th, 2009 at 12:43 pm
I tend to appreciate your dissenting viewpoint when I’m trying to write a compelling plot-line, but I tend to loathe it when I’m trying to convince you that we should buy a granite pyramid. In the end, it all evens out.
March 24th, 2009 at 3:47 pm
I once had a professor in college tell me, “The only constant is change.”
April 14th, 2009 at 8:37 pm
I think that’s a good idea of actually putting work down that is not your viewpoint you agree with. In my head I go over my opponents arguements and dissect how they balance against my own, but it never makes it out of my head. Interesting.