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| David Swindle is a freshman creative writing major and writes 'Swimming in Broken Glass' for the Daily News. His views do not necessarily agree with those of the newspaper. |
It goes without saying that we're living in intense, emotional times. The war has ignited within so many people such potent views and feelings.
And now more than ever, daily I see an ugly, political id running wild like a psychopath escaped the asylum. And oh, am I sick of it. I will not sit silently anymore.
In debating about the situation in Iraq, I've seen so many people trade the rulebook for handfuls of mud. Suddenly those with different opinions are idiots. They're evil, they're anti-American. They're vicious warmongers. They should be next on the list to obliterate.
It's a temptation that all of us fall victim to, some more than others: the absolute rush that comes in thinking yourself superior to others. I'll be the first to admit my own guilt. For the longest time I adored wearing my "Homegrown Texas Dope" T-shirt that featured a cartoon of the President's head growing out of a pot alongside Marijuana leaves.
It's great to think I'm smarter than a president. In reality, though, it's a lie. The truth is he sees the world differently and possesses different information than I do.
I talked at the beginning of the semester about the necessity of positively colliding with those of different viewpoints. You can't do that in rude, uncivil, negative environments.
I've been thirsting for constructive dialogue with conservative-minded individuals. It's such a struggle to bust out of this liberal shell to grow.
I want to take both sides, smash them together and try and create something new and different, something unique and perpetually-evolving. My mind won't let me rest until I find the paradox beyond liberal and conservative.
But I can't do that when the only message I'm hearing is that I'm an idiot. That just slams me further to the left. We can't accomplish anything with this immature name calling.
I mean, honestly, what's even the point of debating when both sides are 100 percent sure, feet sealed in concrete, view locked behind distorted glass, that they're right?
And of course all too often the intelligent, well-informed, passionate, thinking individuals -- those that could provide the most valuable pieces into this puzzle -- are the ones building all these barriers. Yes, you know who you are.
We are all partisans, some more passionately and blatantly than others. Consider: one of the basic psychological concepts of perception (as taught in my Psych 100 class, many thanks Professor Dello Stritto) is the idea of top-down processing and bottom-up processing.
In top-down, the mind constructs a perception based on experience and expectations. In bottom-up, the process begins with the individual bits of information and gradually develops into an integrated whole.
With this war, everyone used top-down processing to form an opinion. Everyone had their decision already made. We then picked what sources we'd use to support ourselves. Nobody said, "Hmm, looks like there might be a war in Iraq. I better go research that to form a solid, unbiased viewpoint." Doesn't work that way. If only we were all so blessed.
So just brush me off if you must. Rip me apart and cling to your comfortable, self-affirming rhetoric. It's only the John Lennon in me imagining how wonderful it would be if we could just see beyond our own narrow, limited, pathetic selves.
Write to David at dmswindle@bsu.edu
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