Close-mindedness hurts society

Since my last editorial was warm and fuzzy, I feel that I have to balance it with an editorial rant. The big occurrence this week was the Finding Common Ground event, which took place on Monday and Wednesday, culminating in the keynote address by Maya Angelou at the Coliseum. If you even glanced at the front page, you know that already.

I am not going to rant against Finding Common Ground, because I feel that it is a worthwhile endeavor to get all the hardheaded people into the same room and make them work out their differences.

I would prefer the method of locking them in the room without food or water until they reach some type of compromise, but the method that the consultants came up with seems to have worked based on the latest exit polls of people who attended the smaller events.

What bothers me is that people on this campus seem to have locked themselves into an ideology with no room or thought of change or an inability to look at things from another person's perspective.

They say you can't teach an old dog new tricks, but we are far from old and the whole point of college is to learn new tricks. This country is extremely divided along political and social lines and campus has been analogous of that division during this semester.

We just went through one of the most slanderous elections in history, where neither side showed any type of respect for the other. I am extremely Machiavellian in my views and I am happy with the end result. However, when that type of action is translated onto campus it benefits no one.

I am not saying let's everyone get along, because I know that is impossible and have no notions or desires of that type of world. What I am saying is that while you disagree with others, you can do it respectfully. There is no reason to degrade other people to make yourself feel better or to prove a point. Doing so only weakens your argument and turns public opinion against you, no matter how valid an argument you may have had to begin with.

Now it's my turn to be hypocritical. This is college, where people are supposed to be open to new ideas and experiences. The fact that some people have entrenched themselves so deeply into a single mindset is not only foolish, but detrimental to campus and eventually, when these people get out into the real world, society as a whole.

There is no right or wrong answer to many of the issues that various groups on campus have been screaming at each other about. You may think that you are correct, but someone will have a different perspective and idea of what is correct and what is not. Neither of you are necessarily completely correct or completely incorrect.

If people took the time to talk to each other and sort out their differences, maybe some minds could be changed and some compromises could be made.

It is easy to see other people strictly as the embodiment of the beliefs they hold and not as people with thoughts and feelings of their own. I do that all the time. However, what this semester should have taught people is that you can't view the world as simply black or white, right or wrong.

This country as a whole has been stuck in that mindset for too long, and it has translated into how we treat each other here on campus. I know that a two-day event is not going to change people's views as far as disagreeing with, or even hating, others.

But that was not the point of the event. The point was to say that while you may disagree, or even dislike these other people, it is better for you and society as a whole that you do not focus in on the differences you have with them, but rather your similarities, that you can reach some type of compromise or mutual understanding and respect so that you can co-exist in society together.

No matter how much you may wish it, people who oppose your views will not go away. If you do not learn to live with them, it will only make your life miserable. If you prefer to live in misery, fine, so be it. I am not going to change your mind with this short editorial, nor would I presume to do so.

However, don't lash out with your misery to make the rest of us miserable as well. It is perfectly fine that you make your opinions known. No one should be able to censor your opinions, no matter how controversial.

Yet tact and grace will play a large part in how your opinions are perceived. It has been tact and grace and respect that have been lacking this semester from all sides of the issues.

The lack of those things makes the newspaper more interesting to read (which is why I don't complain too much), but without them, everyone suffers.

So moving forward, people need to keep their minds open to the ideas and beliefs of others. You may learn a few things that you may never have considered otherwise, and that may benefit you in the long run. After all, isn't that the point of the college experience?