Negotiating Silence

[AtLast]

[quote=violaine;162771]

Originally Posted by NJFemmie

I've witnessed "silencing" usually when someone tries to proclaim something as "wrong". Things may be wrong to (collectively speaking) you - but if you don't agree with something, find it useful or pertinent to YOU, it doesn't make it wrong for someone else.

I suppose it's human nature to attempt to convince others of one's own beliefs. The end result is usually silence or the feeling of alienation.

i have been looking through so many threads trying to find one on 'history', and instead, i keep stumbling across good topics.

i've noticed the same thing you are describing, and have wondered in situations why disagreeing is considered 'wrong' - or why is it 'wrong' to disagree? what if the word 'wrong' was switched to something else ?

It is odd to view disagreement as wrong. Thinking about putting negotiation into the mix and disagreement becomes a positive interaction. Sometimes I think people become silent because of fearing confrontation. Then, again, I have certainly known people in my life that simply want to be right and have no intention of communicating. Sometimes that is what it feels like online to me. A lot of grandstanding and not much in trying to understand what someone is expressing.