So, You Hate Waffles?

“Twitter the only place where well-articulated sentences still get misinterpreted. You can say ‘I like pancakes’, and somebody will say ‘So you hate waffles?’ No b***h. Dats a whole new sentence. Wtf is you talking about.” – Anonymous Twitter User (name withheld to avoid undue harassment)

This piece of commentary was from a tweet I found on Twitter, and the profile’s use of colorful language aside (censored for the purpose of making this article palatable for a general audience), I think the commentator makes a valid point in referencing the furthest levels of assumptions made on social media. For example, I like to joke around because I consider humor the purist form of expression, and it has the ability to ease stress and anxiety during troubled times. And even though my humor can be considered inappropriate sometimes, it is by no means an indication of hate. I can simply be a sarcastic smartass with a loose filter on occasion, but for the most part, I do my best to be mindful of those around me in my daily life.

Now mind you, this is not to say these platforms are devoid of hate speech, or that it doesn’t exist in the world at large; there are numerous cases of hate groups on social media trying to dehumanize and incite violence, intentionally, against members of different social classes, cultures, lifestyles, and ethnicities. But what the aforementioned tweet points out, is how the rampant fear of each other has cultivated an environment of misunderstandings and false associations. Everybody has an opinion - either garnered through personal experiences and preferences - and since we live in a country that takes pride in the freedom of expression, everybody has a right to express it. Because nobody is born into this world with supreme knowledge and wisdom, and there are various insights offered by many people different from us, that can help open our eyes to a lot of wonderful things in life.

But now, because of the contention generated by an “us vs. them” mentality, we are dangerously close to living in a society where anybody who does not completely agree with us, is an enemy deserving of severe ridicule. Even certain areas of the scientific field have become vulnerable to hyperbole; science, a study of thought and exploration using the scientific method (of observation, hypothesis, and experimentation). A process which embraces curious minds that question the reality around them, and understands it is far from being infallible in human hands. But who knows? Maybe I’m suffering from my own level of personal bias because of negative experiences with people in general, which has generated my own expectations of the worst from others.  Taking this into account, however, I truly do hope for the best in people. Where we live in a society that sees each other’s differences as an opportunity to broaden our horizons, through empathy and understanding, rather than seeing them as a personal attack towards lifestyles and preferences.