When abuse becomes the norm of discourse, there is no discourse

When abuse becomes the norm of discourse, then there is no discourse. This is the tragedy of most of the discussion happening over the internet or on news channels. There are arguments, fights, trolling, and bullying, but hardly any constructive discussion. Most political discussions on sensitive social topics are always very passionate, one side normally tries to rip through the other side's arguments, but even while doing this passionately people try not to abuse each other, not to insult or humiliate on a personal level. However, today it seems the intent of every discussion is to humiliate the opponent on a personal level, to demonstrate the contempt for the opponent's views in whatever way one can. People are willing to use fake news, manipulated data, fabricated images, and whatever they can to prove that their opponent is wrong. Abuse in many forms is becoming a norm and in this process, the level of discourse is at all time low.

With increased access to information and data, theoretically, our discussions should become more fact-based and data-driven. We should be using the more relevant information to enlighten each other about all sides of any given issue or topic. But in reality, the exactly the reverse is happening in most of the cases. People are creating, using, and succumbing to more false information. The internet has become a fertile ground to spread rumors and create tension anywhere in the world. Technology is making discussions more superficial and argumentative rather than more deep and enlightening. This is not the fault of the technology itself, it is just a medium that is bound to produce the results based on the way users use it. It's up to users to make the best use of technology for their benefit. Similar to any scientific discovery technology can be used or misused, it can enrich any discussion or it can make it utterly useless. Assertiveness, aggressive advocacy, or even an aggressive attack on opponent's views can be very effective tools to be used in any discourse, but abusing opponents just for having a different view than ours is not one of those tools. When abuse becomes the norm of any discourse, then there is no discourse, there is just abuse. Abuse can be either from one side or both sides, it really doesn't matter. Therefore, each side has the responsibility to maintain civility and dignity of discourse if they desire to produce any positive outcome from any discussion. I hope people realize the difference between being aggressive and being abusive. I hope the dignity and aggressiveness of civil discourse are maintained without being abusive so that we can keep on resolving most complex issues via the way to discussion and don't shut down one of the most useful and effective avenues available for us to resolve our issues.

Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic.