I've been chatting with a new Facebook friend lately. As you know I don't normally talk to strangers. But he seemed to be kind and polite, so I kept chatting. And the more I talked with him, the more surprised I was. He was super good at reasoning and debating. He paid good attention to every word and reason, and he seemed to have a broad social knowledge.
The guy was working in Australia. Which made me feel interesting, as I was curious about what Vietnamese expat life was like and how they felt about Vietnam and Vietnamese people back in this country, and about all what was happening here. And he was free to talk. He shared with me some articles on professors and researchers on the same topic that I recently mentioned, with the same as my view. And he went meticulously on how he disagreed on these articles, what wrong methods of reasoning the authors used, and what fallacy they were.
That guy didn't mention a word about my writing. But he made me startle. He told me some people had good knowledge and went deep to search on what they were interested in. But when they found out the truth, they didn't want to admit that they were wrong but instead using some fractions of the truth to prove that they were still correct, just because of their egos. He concluded that it was extremely dangerous for young people, who didn't know about the truth and kept following these guys.
I told him I was thinking if I made that mistake anytime, then he replied: "maybe yes, but your readers are mostly young people who always say wow and share what you write instead of thinking and judging". That's when I thought: "Shit, should I keep writing when there are people like him reading what I post". I knew I had a lot of mistakes in writing, and I was not strong in debating and reasoning. That was not what we were taught here in Vietnam. As I kept researching and studying myself, there were a lot of things I needed to learn along the way. But if someone kept criticizing every word I wrote, I was not sure I wanted to hear it, or to keep writing.
But now I'm clear. I know I'm not what he talked about. I like to dig deeper to the subjects I'm into, and I have my own stance. When I find what's different from what I believe, and if I think that new thing is right, I won't hesitate to admit the truth. What may happen is I find something different, and I don't think it's correct because I'm a headstrong person, so I won't accept it. But other people may think that that thing is right and they judge me wrong. But what the hell, how can you be sure about what is the truth and what is not. And I'm not the type of person who cheats myself and my reader, who is too stubborn to correct my mistake and just keep doing what is wrong because of my ego.
So that's it. I know I'm weak at some points, and there are many things to improve, especially about arguments and fallacy. And there are many people better than me at these areas, and other areas, who will point out my weakness. That's what happens to the road of moving upward of any individual. But it's not the reason to give up. As long as I believe my writing still helps, even if just to a small number of readers, I will keep on doing that. I will do my best to make sure what I write is correct, and verify my information. But after releasing, I leave it up to my readers to judge.
Upward.
The guy was working in Australia. Which made me feel interesting, as I was curious about what Vietnamese expat life was like and how they felt about Vietnam and Vietnamese people back in this country, and about all what was happening here. And he was free to talk. He shared with me some articles on professors and researchers on the same topic that I recently mentioned, with the same as my view. And he went meticulously on how he disagreed on these articles, what wrong methods of reasoning the authors used, and what fallacy they were.
That guy didn't mention a word about my writing. But he made me startle. He told me some people had good knowledge and went deep to search on what they were interested in. But when they found out the truth, they didn't want to admit that they were wrong but instead using some fractions of the truth to prove that they were still correct, just because of their egos. He concluded that it was extremely dangerous for young people, who didn't know about the truth and kept following these guys.
I told him I was thinking if I made that mistake anytime, then he replied: "maybe yes, but your readers are mostly young people who always say wow and share what you write instead of thinking and judging". That's when I thought: "Shit, should I keep writing when there are people like him reading what I post". I knew I had a lot of mistakes in writing, and I was not strong in debating and reasoning. That was not what we were taught here in Vietnam. As I kept researching and studying myself, there were a lot of things I needed to learn along the way. But if someone kept criticizing every word I wrote, I was not sure I wanted to hear it, or to keep writing.
But now I'm clear. I know I'm not what he talked about. I like to dig deeper to the subjects I'm into, and I have my own stance. When I find what's different from what I believe, and if I think that new thing is right, I won't hesitate to admit the truth. What may happen is I find something different, and I don't think it's correct because I'm a headstrong person, so I won't accept it. But other people may think that that thing is right and they judge me wrong. But what the hell, how can you be sure about what is the truth and what is not. And I'm not the type of person who cheats myself and my reader, who is too stubborn to correct my mistake and just keep doing what is wrong because of my ego.
So that's it. I know I'm weak at some points, and there are many things to improve, especially about arguments and fallacy. And there are many people better than me at these areas, and other areas, who will point out my weakness. That's what happens to the road of moving upward of any individual. But it's not the reason to give up. As long as I believe my writing still helps, even if just to a small number of readers, I will keep on doing that. I will do my best to make sure what I write is correct, and verify my information. But after releasing, I leave it up to my readers to judge.
Upward.
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