A poem about participation in social media dialogue

Why do I come here?

I come here to masticate, to chew things over, mate-to-mate
Investigate and Cogitate, Deliberate and co-Relate

It’s not just words, it’s not all lies, divergent voices theorise
For each new view a thread provides: a crucial link? A pile of lies?
It doesn’t matter!
For each surprise, or compromise, might enlighten or comprise
patterns found through group endeavour, a tapestry we weave together.

Divergent views Reverberate, and separate, and feed debate
At times we find we each dictate, gesticulate, sometimes berate
And agitate and activate, force those that care to co-relate
And those that don’t to postulate and imitate, adjudicate.

So theorise! Differentiate! See each part, Discern! Relate!
Internalise the ones that matter; adopt a stance that does not shatter
this fragile space we share together, lets co-imagine something better.

Then ask yourself, why do YOU come, to make a point or steal a run?
Sometimes to procrastinate… sometimes more? To masturbate?
To self-inquire, refine your views? To walk a mile in others’ shoes?
To find some friends and share the news, or through trust make colleagues new?

Beyond debate we co-relate, converging minds we integrate,
We co-define our language better, we co-design, make things that matter.
Through dialogue we realise, and synthesise, and crystallize
Divergent bits of different size, include the truths, reveal the lies.
Dialogue is circular and sometimes perpendicular
As tangents sprout and sidetracks form, from me to you to me, then on
and on and round and round it goes, with love a spiral, not death-throes
the words may grow, someone might shout, a song may form, a poem sprout…

Actions speak, but words still matter; most don’t work without the latter
So as we forge through stormy weather and navigate our way together,
We trust our friends to activate, back us up as mate does mate
Continue to communicate and agitate, rejuvenate and strive always to co-relate.

One thing I ask, my dearest mates, please don’t just act, deliberate!
For when you do you’ll find your way, and maybe others with whom to play
It happens each and every day, when people gather to have their say.

Neil Davidson, June 5 2014 (in response to questions on Linked In Paradigm Shift Discussion)

Postscript from Karl Popper

THUS ETHICAL PRINCIPLES FORM THE BASIS OF SCIENCE

The principles that form the basis of every rational discussion, that is, of every discussion undertaken in the search for truth, are in the main ethical principles. I should like to state three such principles.

1. The principle of fallibility: perhaps I am wrong and perhaps you are right. But we could easily both be wrong.

2. The principle of rational discussion: we want to try, as impersonally as possible, to weight up our reasons for and against a theory; a theory that is definite and criticizable.

3. The principle of approximation to the truth: we can nearly always come closer to the truth in a discussion which avoids personal attacks. It can help us to achieve a better understanding; even in those cases where we do not reach an agreement.

It is worth noting that these three principles are both epistemological and ethical principles. For they imply, among other things, toleration: if I hope to learn from you, and if I want to learn in the interest of truth, then I have not only to tolerate you but also to recognize you as a potential equal; the potential unity and willingness to discuss matters rationally. Of importance also is the principle that we can learn much from a discussion, even when it does not lead to agreement: a discussion can help us by shedding light upon some of our errors.

Thus ethical principles form the basis of science. The idea of truth as the fundamental regulative principle — the principle that guides our search — can be regarded as an ethical principle. The search for truth and the idea of approximation to the truth are also ethical principles; as are the ideas of intellectual integrity and of fallibility, which lead us to a self-critical attitude and to toleration.

Karl Popper, ‘In Search of a Better World’.