If you’ve browsed my prior posts on here, you may notice that I tend to avoid political matters. In this era of polarization and discontent, I assure you this is a deliberate, considered choice.

It’s not that I don’t have any political views – I do. It’s not that I don’t believe any political topics are important – many are. It’s simply a matter of what this particular medium – text over a background on somebody’s screen – does and doesn’t do well.

Over the past few years I’ve really begun to grasp how important nonverbal communication is. Communication via printed text, however, is almost entirely verbal. Like, I can tell you if I say something sarcastically, and I did choose the text color for this post (basically bright red and bright blue mixed together, averaging out to purplish-fuschia). But that’s about it.

Political views – left, right, center, libertarian, authoritarian – tend to be highly personal. If a highly personal belief is going to be challenged, I believe it needs to happen in an atmosphere where nobody feels disrespected and nobody feels physically endangered – and text over a background on somebody’s screen isn’t that atmosphere. Obviously I can’t come through my screen and strangle you (nor would I want to), but there have, in fact, been times when things I have read on the internet have caused me to feel incredibly insecure, disrespected, and even unsafe. I don’t want to cause those feelings in other people, because they can be very traumatic. I have literally questioned my own sanity over some things I’ve read online and my reactions to them. I don’t want you to question yours.

Even if someone doesn’t feel personally attacked or threatened, hurt feelings happen very, very easily when the speaker’s body language and tone of voice are not accessible to the listener. Heck, for many of us (myself sometimes included), hurt feelings can happen very easily in person! But take away the physical proximity and it becomes almost second-nature to assume the other person is coming from a place of ill intent. There’s even a name for it – hostile attribution bias.

Anyway, that’s enough of my blathering for now. I don’t want to start talking in circles. I do hope that anyone who may read this is having a super day, and if not, maybe this makes them feel a bit more understood and valued. Love and peace –

Matt