In last week’s column, I tackled how our political and economic uncertainties need meaningful discussion so that solutions can be pursued. The inability to do that will leave us mired in repetitive drama, with much noise but little meaning needed to move forward. This breeds despair and anxiety, and a lack of hope for the future.

This week I would like to focus on how we can pursue discussion to help solve common problems and provide ways forward. 

The first is to foster respectful conversations and dialogue in all levels of life. We often harden our positions when we listen only to those allied with our perspectives. Social media tends to feed us the same messages by bringing us similar content. Unfortunately, shared interests can translate into prejudice, even hatred. This may encourage us to negate dialogue through cancel culture and other forms.

Back in the 80s and 90s we would read different print broadsheet newspapers in order to examine various perspectives. We had popular television talk shows like Straight from the Shoulder with the late Louie Beltran, Viewpoint with Dong Puno, and Public Forum with Randy David, especially after EDSA 1986. These activities allowed us to distill and form our perspectives. In turn, this capability to discern opinions and ideas allowed us to take note of proposed legislation and governance vital to the republic.

As the cold war ended in the late 80s and internet came upon us, we were exposed to even more perspectives that allowed us to further engage others. A world of ideas suddenly opened and discussions broadened. Once obscure ideas found audiences. The level of emotion accompanying such discussions also escalated. The vitriol began in the comments sections of news websites and online discussion groups. Social media’s advent in the late 2000s amplified this ability to comment. The intense online debates after the US Supreme Court ruling on same sex marriage in 2013 was the first time I saw social media’s potency as a driver of opinion.   

Having seen how emotional discussions have evolved in history, it is clear that a vital key to respectful debate and dialogue is to manage our emotions. This sounds easy, but in todays’ online world it may be a challenge. The high level of emotions lace our discussions to include much angst and emotions when perspectives are shared. Too much emotion sharpens the already steep polarization we are seeing.

Moreover, we cannot simply wait for or expect others to be respectful to us when engaging debates. We need to make the first move in fostering respect in discussing what are difficult conversations about the present and future.

In addition, when we find ourselves caught in the maelstrom of emotional debate, we often lose credibility to lead others in the quest to address issues and concerns, collaborate to solve common problems and help everyone flourish. That must be our goal in order to prepare society for the next generations, who will have more challenges to face.

In the end, we should not allow these emotions to overshadow our logic and intellect, as this may render us unfit to engage the dialogues needed to deal with the increasing number of challenges we will all have to face together. If we must disagree, let us do so with respect. We need to seek answers and ways forward, not more drama. It is in these sober, rational discussions where the ideas needed to move forward are forged, and true progress is made.