In any given society when conflict arises, the reason of conflict doesn’t often divide society as much as the subjective attitudes opposing parties develop toward each other.
When a cause is being advocated; sarcasm, foul language and mockery may be considered fun or an efficient way to release one’s strong emotions. However, they don’t offer the required logic to bringing the audience to adopt that cause, neither do they build the required intellect that supports it. On the contrary, they end the possibility of bringing in more reliable supporters and increase the intensity of opposition.
The difference between being truth-oriented and winning-oriented is how one deals with the opposition he faces.
The more someone is committed to the truth the keener he would be to be persuasive to as many people as possible. This is attainable by offering appropriate evidence and arguments with the potential to change minds and having the patience to listen to others’ arguments as well. As long as the advocate is committed to a cause, no matter how strong the disagreement he faces, he would never become short of new and more convincing arguments and would move the extra mile to prove his ideas.
On the other hand, using sarcasm, mockery or offensive language is beneficial only if one’s concern was to beat his opponents or to be looked upon as a savior. Belittling opponents, bringing the audience to look down at them indicates indifference to the cause one represents, intolerance, closed-mindedness, prejudice, immaturity, arrogance, and disrespect to people reasoning.
Such advocates usually tend to shift from rationality to aggressive language when they realize they are going to lose, are no longer able to provide reliable evidence, or because they are too short tempered to tolerate opposite argument. So, what is better saving the day than making others look like fools.
The problem with shifting to offensive language at an argument is that it abruptly hinders rational thinking and creates thoughts and mental images that later become a basis for prejudice, which later becomes the starting point of potential debates that usually end in a meaningless fight.
Many good causes have been failed and many facts have been missed due to immature distraction of minds from the actual cause to some trivia about the opponents.
Have a peaceful day.
