Being Appalled vs. Being Offended

Any great discussion requires perspective. Diverse and COUNTER perspective; quixotic and contrarian perspective. And all moving epiphanies usually take form through the aid of one thing as its root derivative: having one's mind changed!

Anyway, exposition is great, but into my titular point. The world has been split with a meteoric divide by the ideas we choose to invest ourselves in; that's no secret. What IS a secret, is how this mess even came into existence! Here's the deal: we got here by being too staunch and confident in our own abilities to discern facts from ideas. We lost track of how the bench-marking systems that govern "correctness" truly affect our balance in life and have placed misguided, and polarizing magnitude to issues we might not otherwise care about if the concept of zeitgeist didn't exist. I do have a suggestion to fix this tragic phenomenon as well. Put simply, we can provide a better foothold for ourselves if we differentiate being appalled from being truly offended.

Ask yourself next time you read an article or consume the current events of the world, how it might truly impact you. Craft a series of relational consequences to see how removed you actually are from the repercussions or benefits of the outcome and then see if it's worth emotional expenditure. It's an exercise that takes a manner of seconds to complete and I argue for it to have a HIGH habituality index. If you are one to typically offer quick reactions on subjects, whether you know anything about them or not, this will be quite therapeutic for you. You'll begin to realize you were simply appalled by everyone ELSE'S reactions all along and, you let it take hold! But within the exercise lies the answers you seek and we all forgive you for your misgivings... we've all done it (guilty as charged). Reserve being truly offended, touched, or driven for those causes in life that which truly WARRANT it; they do exist. Choose to be free, choose to skeptically cordial, and choose to let your convictions fuel your actions. The difference between being appalled and being offended will make too much sense then.

This may seem like a bit of a public service announcement to some, but I'm aiming much higher than that. I'm hoping to identify how people might FEEL when reading my, or any other, content on steemit in advance and let you know that I'M IN THIS WITH YOU (all of you)! Paul Bloom wrote a book recently entitled Against Empathy where he calls for what he coins as 'Rational Compassion'. Any great journey requires companionship, and any great quest is enhanced by its 'balanced' mix of archetypes. We cannot EVER truly empathize with anyone but we CAN hold ourselves to the perspective gathering required to give them the rational compassion they deserve. I expect to come across many subjects and people that cause me to investigate life differently here, so let's make it enjoyable.

Share your thoughts!