Is Sharing Your Opinion Worth It?

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ThisAdamGuy
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13 Mar 2017, 7:45 pm

I've noticed that I tend to get along with people pretty well, until we disagree on something. Whether it's me or them at fault, things always tend to go downhill once we stop agreeing on everything.

Like today I decided to join a discussion on the WattPad fantasy writers' forum. The OP was talking about how people should try harder to include more diverse main characters. I chimed in saying that, while I'm not against diverse casts, the main focus should be to tell a good story, not to include as many different types of people as possible. A good story is a good story, no matter what the main character's skin color is, but throwing in other races, sexualities, etc, just for the sake of having them can ruin it. Things escalated from there, with people calling me racist, small minded, a crybaby, and ended with me telling them they were "making a circle jerk of validation instead of trying to have a real discussion about the subject."

That wasn't my intent. I just wanted to put my thoughts out there, maybe have a CIVILIZED debate, but things never seem to work out that way. So my question is, is sharing your opinion even worth it when you don't agree with someone? Or is it better to just keep it to yourself and let them tell themselves how awesome they are?


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Meistersinger
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13 Mar 2017, 8:31 pm

ThisAdamGuy wrote:
I've noticed that I tend to get along with people pretty well, until we disagree on something. Whether it's me or them at fault, things always tend to go downhill once we stop agreeing on everything.

Like today I decided to join a discussion on the WattPad fantasy writers' forum. The OP was talking about how people should try harder to include more diverse main characters. I chimed in saying that, while I'm not against diverse casts, the main focus should be to tell a good story, not to include as many different types of people as possible. A good story is a good story, no matter what the main character's skin color is, but throwing in other races, sexualities, etc, just for the sake of having them can ruin it. Things escalated from there, with people calling me racist, small minded, a crybaby, and ended with me telling them they were "making a circle jerk of validation instead of trying to have a real discussion about the subject."

That wasn't my intent. I just wanted to put my thoughts out there, maybe have a CIVILIZED debate, but things never seem to work out that way. So my question is, is sharing your opinion even worth it when you don't agree with someone? Or is it better to just keep it to yourself and let them tell themselves how awesome they are?


Unfortunately, it's better to keep it to yourself, because you will be immediately ostracized for having a different opinion, then made into a pariah. We on the spectrum are already pariahs, so it's just best to keep your mouth shut.