Agreeing to disagree…

I'm sensitive about the topic of retirement.  I know the vast majority of my readers are actively employed.  Even my wife is running a successful ecommerce business.  However now that I'm on the sidelines, perhaps I can offer a glimpse into what's happening to people in the working world; the other parts of the world, too.  Seems to be a lot of consternation and conflict, true? 

Ian Leslie wrote in his book Curious© this: 

A user of the social news and discussion site Reddit recently posted the following question: If someone from the 1950s suddenly appeared today, what would be the most difficult thing to explain to them about today?  The most popular answer was this one: I possess a device, in my pocket, that is capable of accessing the entirety of information known to man.  I use it to look at pictures of cats and get into arguments with strangers. 

Curiously, I am from the 1950s and we do use social media to get into arguments with strangers.  I worry how much I've been impacted: 

When I retire, I'll have the time to rediscover myself.  I used to be a nice person. 

Jeri Sedlar 

I've been thinking a lot about my skill and ability to disagree with someone else's point of view without coming across disagreeable.  I mean discussing or even debating different points of view is one thing; raising the temperature to a full blown argument and blasting someone online is something altogether different, don’t you agree? 

There, I said it (actually I wrote it), I'm trying to persuade you to agree with my point of view.  According to this 2020 post from thebalancecareers.com: 

Persuasion is convincing others to change their point of view, agree to a commitment, purchase a product or service, or take a course of action. Oral and written persuasive skills are valued in the workplace. Sales is the most obvious form of persuasion, but this skill is used in many other positions as well. 

Selling skills aside, I've noticed that I become angry too easily these days when I see or hear things going on around me that I disagree with.  Has the art of persuasion been usurped by social media and the ability to just lambast others and their points of view?

The article The persuasion triad - Aristotle Still Teaches, published in 2016 and referencing thought leadership from 23 centuries ago reminds us: 

Aristotle determined that persuasion comprises a combination of three appeals: logos, pathos, and ethos. Anyone seeking to persuade an audience should craft his/her message with facts (logos), tapping an argument's emotional aspect (pathos), and presenting his/her apparent moral standing (ethos). 

Facts, emotions, and moral standing?  I have improvement work to do.  Whether I'm right or wrong, I don't always have to look for a fight.  It's OK if we agree to disagree. 

According to Wikipedia, the phrase "agree to disagree" appeared in print all the way back in 1770:

…a phrase in English referring to the resolution of a conflict (usually a debate or quarrel) whereby all parties tolerate but do not accept the opposing positions. It generally occurs when all sides recognize that further conflict would be unnecessary, ineffective or otherwise undesirable. They may also remain on amicable terms while continuing to disagree about the unresolved issues. 

Agreeing to disagree; remaining on amicable terms.  There's a skill I can work on in retirement.  Wish I started working on it years ago. 

GAP 

When life gets tough we could get a helmet… or… we could leverage the peace and share the power of a positive perspective.