And I agree. Without something coming in to challenge popular opinion, no one learns anything, no one benefits and we just keep on smiling and nodding and ignoring the conversation. Some of my favorite commenters are the ones who routinely come in to tell me I’m wrong, because we have the best debates. They MAKE the conversation. Somewhere along the line “respecting” someone meant never disagreeing with them. We all lose that way.

I do think disagreeing with someone really shows you respect them enough to challenge them. Because to challenge them, you have to understand their argument. It takes time to do that. It takes little to no time to simply nod with a smile.

I think our social media problem of not enough Outspokenness is not just that people are timid to disagree, but also that people are afraid of being disagreed with. I notice a lot lately that when disagreement sparks in a communication stream, mods or cliqueies group pounce to tame it down. Rather than actually listen and try to better understand.

Letting a disagreement run its course (respectfully of course) is something that brings rewards for all sides. And we won’t get nearly as far without it. Because it’s not just about talking on the Internet, it’s about getting along.