Is anger a gift?

'The truth is born of arguments, but so too are enemies' - Jody Barton, Frontline Gamer Blog, 2011

I've started this blog with a quote, from me, because I think it's exactly where I stand on the issue of arguments, online or otherwise. Although I do so more to ridicule myself than to elevate myself to the same plane as those others I quote in this article. I think that knowledge and progress are born of disagreement, and people's desire to find the truth and to learn, or they should be. And thus by extension prove the other person wrong. However, do we have to have anger for an argument to exist? I don't think so, and in many cases anger clouds an argument and makes any disagreement personal. Anger also ensures we expel energy in useless conflict that furthers neither truth nor discussion. So why am I writing this? Well it's because of an article on HoP written by GMort, which can be found here. Letting rip, can it be cathartic? Yes. Can it be productive? Yes. But invariably it will be destructive, not only to others but also to your own beliefs and position, as it diminishes what you have to say.

'The aim of an argument or discussion should not be victory, but progress' - Joseph Joubert, Pens�es, 1842

Here's the thing, Joseph Joubert is right. We have disagreements so we can find the truth, or a version of it, so we further human understanding or our own, not to prove we are 'right'. If we take that further it means we all must accept the horrifying possibility that we might be wrong. Yeah I know, scary thought for some of you isn't it? I freely admit that what I say, write or believe are nothing more than my own opinions on things, and as such I accept the very real possibility that some new piece of information might change my opinion on things. All too often though on the Internet I see people arguing for the sake of being 'right', not for furthering their own understanding. We have all seen others trample over people's opinions and arguments, there is nothing wrong with that, but the manner in which we choose to do that is important, and frames much of how such dissections of arguments are viewed. Shouting somebody down, and being rude, aggressive and vulgar is not the right way to further any argument or discussion in my opinion, because:

'One man's frankness is another man's vulgarity' - Kevin Smith

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