CULTURE/SOCIETY: I've Given Up on Human Reasoning

I read this a couple of weeks back, but was too busy with Christmas posts to get this one up.

- I actually have some Christmas posts that I didn't get up. But there's always next year! -

Anyway, this one is from the weekly supplement our local newspaper puts out for 20- and 30-somethings - which I in my mid-40's still read to see what's going on around town. - OlderMusicGeek

I've given up on human reasoning
by sarah dose staff writer

The older I get, the more I realize I don't care what other people think anymore.

I hear you groaning, but this is not an "I love myself" column focusing on how I'm an indvidual now and I don't care about what people think of my clothes or my hair.

This goes much deeper.

Recently I came to the conclusion that I really don't care how people use reason and logic. If they choose to be wrong, that is their own problem. It is much easier and less stressful to let people be wrong than to argue my way into frustration.

Lost? Let me back up a tad.

Remember a long time ago? Way back in college, all bright-eyed and idealistic? Chances are, you loved getting into healthy debates with your friends. Even strangers.

Your opinion was right, and you reveled in getting people to see your side of things. You loved hearing the words, "You're right. I never thought of it that way."

I remember those days, too. It was important for me to point out my incredible logic and to make people see the other side of things.

(Maybe that's why I ended up a journalist and got this column.)

Fast forward to the present. If you're like me, you've been out of college almost 10 years and have already given up on people. Because people don't listen.

The other night, at my part-time job, I was talking to an older gentleman about a car accident he had been involved in a year ago.

According to him, he was wearing a seatbelt and it was the reason he broke his neck. Despite the physical injuries he suffered, this 72-year-old guy he got around pretty good. A sore knee and a neck he couldn't fully move were his biggest problems now.

Instead of being thankful for his life, this guy was pissed off he'd had his seatbelt on.

I pointed out that he could have been thrown from his car, that the seatbelt may have prevented him from having a serious head injury.

This guy would hear none of it. After 10 minutes of hearing the same story repeatedly, I gave up. I simply did not care what he thought anymore and any energy I spent arguing with him was wasted.

Ten years ago, I might have argued with him into the wee hours of the night. I might have used the magical Internets to prove my point.

Now? I simply have decided that most people don't know what's best for them and therefore do not deserve to hear my expert (and right) opinion.

I've given up on humans' ability to reason. And I don't care what you have to say about it.