rynling | Re: It Keeps Happening

This quote from Neil Gaiman (source) has been making the rounds of social media...

What I tend to see happening more and more is people retreating into their own corners. People seem scared to get things wrong or be shouted at so they form villages in which they agree with every other member, and maybe they go out and shout at the people in the next village for fun, but there’s no interchange of ideas going on. I think we have to encourage the idea that you’re allowed to think things. I have thought a great many stupid things over the years, and I can tell you that there’s not one stupid thing that I ever thought where I changed my mind because someone shouted at me or threatened to kill me. On the other hand, having great discussions with good friends, possibly over a drink, has definitely changed my mind and made me try to do better. You’re allowed to do better, but we have to let people do better.

...and, while I don't always agree with everything Gaiman says or does (ironically titling his most recent collection of short stories "Trigger Warning" was kind of a dick move, for example), I tend to agree with him that shouting at people doesn't encourage anyone to change their mind. Personally, as a hardcore advocate of intersectional feminism, I completely understand why people get angry, and like The Incredible Hulk I am always walking around angry myself. Still, I'm not sure what to make of the messages I routinely receive on Tumblr...