Here’s an old musician joke. How many lead trumpet players does it take to change a lightbulb? Five. One to change the bulb and four to stand around and talk about how they could have done it better.
The punchline is universal. Monday morning quarterbacks abound. There is no shortage of people who are willing to second-guess others, even if they lack information or competence. It’s easy to say what could have or should have been done from the safe vantage point of 20-20 hindsight. And psychology suggests many people tend to think others should have known better only because they know better now.
According to James Patterson, “Everybody’s a critic these days.” Further, I’d argue, “Those who can’t do, criticize.” And let’s remember a bit of folk wisdom, “People who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those who are doing it.” Yet, we all do. Social media provide ample evidence that people are ready to jump in and offer their “opinion” without doing any substantive research, much less basic fact-checking, regardless of their knowledge of the subject. Superficiality rules. Expertise has become suspect.
How many online reviews amount to, “this isn’t the movie I would have written,” or “this isn’t the product I would have designed,” or “this isn’t the decision I would have made?” I once heard a music theory professor tell his students to come back after they had their first symphony premiered by a major orchestra and then they could have a chat about the best way to teach music theory. This sounds “harsh,” to use the language of today, but in my estimation, the professor was not wrong. Sometimes we need to put the wax on and take it off according to instructions. Unless one has the necessary expertise, second-guessing others is not helpful. If you can do better, then why don’t you? It would be better than criticizing those who are trying. This is what my Dad used to tell me.
Ancient philosophers asked whether a person’s knowledge, experience, or general competence was adequate to contend with the task at hand. It seems to me this concept is sort of a pass/fail test. One is either adequate or not. The question is, how do we measure adequacy? Is everyone equally qualified to share their opinion on public education, climate science, vaccines, constitutional law, and dozens of other demanding topics, or should most people admit their inadequacies and defer to people who are indeed adequate? I don’t mean to sound elitist, but much of what I’ve read on the internet seems to have been posted by people who don’t know what they’re talking about. Such “opinions” contribute little to the conversation.
That said, I have nothing against people who have a teachable spirit and are trying to become adequate. I suppose I need to reserve most of my irritation for those who choose to remain inadequate – those who share memes that sound good to them, but present false dichotomies, strawman arguments, over-generalizations, out-of-context remarks or misquotes, or demonstrably false claims. Another saying comes to mind, “it is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open one’s mouth and remove all doubt.” Again, I’m not trying to insult anyone here. I’m merely venting my frustration.
As a young teacher, my mentors warned me not to let my class discussions degenerate into “shared ignorance.” Make sure students understand basic facts and definitions. Encourage informed opinions. Stay on topic. Don’t let personal feelings, as valid as they may be, pass for evidence. The most productive discussions occur when everyone knows the ground rules, respects others, and provides a clear rationale for their position.
In social media, often there is no shared understanding, even of the common meanings of words. Meanings are conflated and distorted – socialism, communism, liberalism, and progressivism each have distinct meanings – so do capitalism, nationalism, conservatism, and fascism. Lumping various words together as accusations or to make vague, unsupported claims is not useful, other than to harass the other side. Yet, the blame game is popular, and any number can play.
As a boy, one concept I practically had drilled into my head was the importance of taking responsibility for my words. Words are powerful. They can hurt or heal, divide or unite, cause death and destruction or promote life and creativity. I learned the higher a person rises in society, the more people listen to their words, the more responsibility they must take. The average guy usually doesn’t need to worry about how his words affect very many people. A teacher, minister, broadcaster, or public official, especially a world leader, must be much more careful. This is not just common sense, but part of a moral principle. “Much will be expected from the one who has been given much, and the more a man is trusted, the more people will expect of him.” (Luke 12:48) Stan Lee understood this to mean simply, “With great power comes great responsibility.”
When the exact opposite of this kind of responsibility takes place, there is great potential for harm. Now many people admire a few individuals – those with great reach, either commercial or political – who “speak their mind,” saying what their followers want them to say or what they believe they cannot say. And those who have been given this great opportunity have been able to use their words to denigrate, accuse, attack, or bully anyone who does not share their political affiliation, or in many cases their religion, nationality, gender, or skin color. These same individuals claim their words do not matter, that what they say is merely their idea of humor or entertainment – their freedom of expression. Nevertheless, they are responsible for their words, and the effects those words have on others.
“Remember that we who are teachers will be judged by a much higher standard.” (James 3:1) I realize this admonition refers to teachers of religion, yet it seems to me these words can apply to all teachers everywhere, not just religious teachers. And, at the end of the day we are all teachers. School teachers, professors, military instructors, web influencers, parents, pundits, media personalities, reporters, publishers, politicians; everyone who communicates an idea is a teacher, even the average guy, because the average guy now has world-wide reach. Each of us is responsible for what we teach and how we teach it. Whether we teach division, intolerance, and hatred, or reconciliation, tolerance, and love, others, especially children, will learn these things and act accordingly. Our best choice is to stop guessing and teach responsibly.
MurrayWorks 