I've found that the events of the past several years, particularly the past 6 months has changed a lot of my prior held perspectives on life. In general, i'm trying to be less of a dick and more understanding about things. I will admit that there is a bit of a challenge in this, those of you who know me fairly well can certainly see how it would be hard; but people are much more likely to let their real opinions/rationale on touchy matters if you approach the topic neutrally, respectfully, and civilly.
In addition to this making me seem like less of a dick in-general, being more polite and less flamboyantly outspoken in disagreements or debates makes it much easier for others to trip over their own toes/dig their own holes, conversationally speaking -- thus eliminating the need for me to be a dick at all. Manipulative...maybe a little.
I'm saying this because, if you have me on Facebook, you should try and get involved in the "Open Discussions" i'm starting to do on my page. I've only done 2 so far but the reaction has been pretty good, I just hope I don't run out of material -- but I'm pretty sure a theme of sticking with polarizing current events can't really ever go wrong.
I'm finding the biggest challenges to be thinking of people to tag who I know will be very outspoken and opinionated about the subject at hand, and phrasing the question asked as neutrally as possible. Feel free to get involved!
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