The March 11 editorial “Engaging in civil debate, we learn that ‘we share the truth between us’ ” provides a report on a debate between the UNLV team and scholars from the Brookings Institution.
This article helped to show me, as a young American, how civil discourse can help facilitate thought and discussion. As I try to learn more about political issues, it becomes increasingly difficult to separate fact from opinion. Even as I watch the news, listen to friends and read articles, they all seem to be one-sided.
The editorial quoted Brookings’ Richard Reeves: “Mill has this great line. One of the reasons he’s in favor of free speech, he says, is that when two people are disagreeing with each other, it’s very rare that one of them has all of the truth and the other has none of the truth. Usually, we share the truth between us. And that’s the point of debate: We bring the facts together, and hopefully we get a wee bit closer to the truth.”
That statement made me reflect on how I feel on civil discourse. To help society grow, we need more discussions on political topics to help us learn from one another and to make a better future.