I talk with people I respect and wish to learn from.

I engage in discussion not to prove that I am right, but to test ideas and be open to learning how I may be wrong. Ideas are put through the crucible, refined, clarified, discarded.

Democracy was built on debate.
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I try my best to be collegial, but also to appear to be. Twitter format doesn't always make it easy, and sometimes I fall short.

I sometimes worry that we are losing the art of discussion.

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I think to our predecessors who without technology, would exchange and debate ideas across vast distances with lengthy, meticulously handwritten letters.

The act of forging ideas this way likely forced a thoughtfulness...

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The cost of waiting a month for a reply only to have your idea misunderstood or easily refuted is quite high; this placed a premium on critical thinking - best to make your point well the first time.

It's easy to see how cordialities became so common in those eras.

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Best not affront your pen pal after you spent several days composing your thoughts and weeks waiting to hear back.

Great ideas were forged this way. The enlightenment.

Twitter's format does influence how we communicate, how we think, and how we perceive each other.

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