I'm very sure that I'm not the only one who's rejoicing over the end of the election period.
I'm not apolitical. I registered to become a voter as soon as I was eligible and I've voted in two General Elections already.
But I'm sick of all the nasty political postings on social and mass media. Yes, people have the right to freedom of speech but why be so nasty?
The thing is, humans have been proven to be predictably irrational. Every one of us has his/her own biases and prejudices. Some choose to make them public while others prefer to keep them under wraps.
But these public/private biases profoundly affect how we process things. We think we are rational, but we are not. In football, managers are often accused of having "selective sight". They will kick up a storm when their players are fouled or when decisions are made against them. But remarkably, they often don't see when their players foul others and will try to justify wrong decisions that are made in their favour.
All of us are irrational in that way; We all have selective hearing and sight. We consciously choose to hear and read more of the things that reinforce our beliefs and disregard other viewpoints.
So in all likelihood, our staunch support for Party X is not based on a rational decision.
Maybe it is, maybe it isn't but we cannot deny that sentiments and emotions cloud our judgments at times.
Thus, why the need to assert our views so forcefully unto others? Why treat those who don't share our views as if they are "unenlightened"?
Sensible, well-thought-out and nicely-worded posts are fine. What I'm allergic to is, fanaticism.
Nikola Tesla said something so profound:
Nikola Tesla said something so profound:
“If your hate could be turned into electricity, it would light up the whole world.”
Reading spiteful comments made me realise just how true his words were. The hate was so real and forceful, it was almost tangible. Another quote that struck me was:
Some people think they love their people their country while all they really do is hate others.
— nouman (@noumanbayyinah) May 4, 2013
When we have very strong opinions about something, remember this beautiful advice by Imam Ash-Shafi'i (r): "I believe my opinion is right with the possibility that it is wrong and I believe the opinion of those who disagree with me is wrong with the possibility that it is right."
Besides having civility when we disagree, I also wish that we don't share unfounded rumours so freely and unthinkingly. Rumours that are not credible/accurate/reasonable flood our news feed and inboxes unrelentingly. Just run the latest rumour by the CARS checklist before hitting 'share' and we'll all be better off because of it.
X X X
I don't claim that I'm rational as I readily admit my own selective sight and hearing.
I don't claim that I've never offended anyone by what I say/type as I probably have.
I also don't claim that I'm right...
This post is just to vent my frustration that's been building up for some time now.
It's also a plea for us to be nicer to one another even when we differ; for us to #SaySomethingNice.
Let's leave all the negativity and toxicity of the past month and get on with our lives.
But before that, one last political joke:
2 comments:
oh syada, I'm totally agree with you.
Seriously, sometimes I just don't get it why some people have to be so rude and even inconsiderate towards others..sedih bila baca komen negatif yang saling mencaci :(
Just read an interesting passage from the book 'The Decisive Moment' by Jonah Lehrer that's relevant to the issue of blind partisanship:
According to Larry Bartels (a Princeton political scientist), knowing more about politics doesn't erase partisan bias because voters tend to assimilate only those facts that confirm what they already believe.
"Voters think that they're thinking," Bartels says, "but what they're really doing is inventing facts or ignoring facts so that they can rationalize decisions they've already made." Once you identify with a political party, the world is edited to fit with your ideology.
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