The beauty of debating

Good morning 👋

How are you doing today?

The other day, I found myself thinking about how much I love a good debate or discussion. There’s a kind of magic in those moments where two people go back and forth on an idea – which is exactly what we’re going to be exploring in today’s blog.

Hello and Welcome to Sweeney’s Blogs!

I’ve recently been reading Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don’t Know, by Adam Grant, where the following quote came up:

“Harmony is the pleasing arrangement of different tones, voices, or instruments, not the combination of identical sounds”
Adam Grant

The book brings up an important point that I feel we can’t overlook nowadays – what it means to have a good debate. I think it’s safe to say that we’ve all seen the occasional political debate on our televisions that has descended into what some can describe as playground arguments…

And don’t worry, I’m not about to dive into politics here. I mention it only because it shows how many people have come to view the word debate: loud, messy, confrontational, and often more about “winning” than understanding.

Anybody who knows me knows that I love a good debate. A good debate is rooted in curiosity, not conflict. Over the years, I’ve been lucky enough to debate all sorts of topics. More recently, as a part of the Undefinable Community, two of my good friends, Dan Smith and Kyle Ireland, starting out the “Conversations Club”.

What this is, in essence, is an online call every couple of weeks, where we have chats and discussions around a set topic. We’ve done ones so far on social media, parental responsibility, the ethics of AI, the modern role of religion and a whole load more.

These types of interactions are all about sharing different perspectives, asking questions, challenging each other kindly, and walking away with something new to think about, even if neither side changes their mind.

To me, a debate isn’t about winning. It’s about presenting a belief or an approach openly, honestly, and invitingly.

It’s a skill I think we all need to keep developing. There are so many ways to have these discussions, and it’s always a balance of learning, growing, structuring your points clearly, and respecting the thoughts of others.

I like to think I’m good at debating; however, I’ll be the first to admit that I still have a lot to learn. Every conversation, every topic, and every perspective from people of all walks of life, the more they shape me into a more rounded, thoughtful person 😊

At the end of the day, I don’t think debating is about proving a point. It’s about understanding one another a little better. If we can approach conversations with curiosity instead of defensiveness, and harmony instead of hostility, we all grow.

And who knows? Maybe the next great lesson you experience may come from a conversation you didn’t expect.

That’s all for today’s blog. It’s been a little different to what I usually talk about, but it’s a topic I’ve been meaning to start sharing more on for a while. Who knows? I may end up doing more blogs on this. We’ll have to wait and see what happens 😉

Thanks for reading and I’d love to hear your thoughts!

James