‘As bad as radicals and terrorists’

Cynicism and derision have become almost second nature to many people in our society. The minute they hear of any idea — old or new, brilliant or innocent — they dismiss it on the spot.

No thinking, no perusal, no checking of facts and no patience.

Armed with sharp tongues, loud voices, nihilist attitudes and infinite venues of expression, they abort well-established practices as well as novel initiatives in total cold blood.

Often, they damn both the thing and its opposite, making one wonder what is acceptable to them.

A farcical dilemma of catastrophic proportions.

Not long ago, those who spoke or wrote in public in our society were the few. 

Venues of expression, private and public, were limited. And such venues, fairly or unfairly, had very strict criteria about what gets spoken or written, and who gets to speak or write.

With the advent of the “information revolution”, the venues of oral and written expression multiplied in unprecedented numbers.

Essentially, each and every citizen has at least one or more platforms at his/her disposal from which to speak or write.

In essence, this is a good development. People are entitled to express themselves and voice their opinions on all issues of concern to them.

Freedom of expression is a basic right, and there are no limits on thought. And in general people articulate their opinions fairly responsibly and harmlessly.

The type of people spoken of above, a sizeable chunk, are the exception.

They are not only hasty in the opinions they express — mainly impressions, fractions of facts, half-truths and at times outright lies — but almost always dismissive and offensive as well.

Some are ordinary people of all walks of life, of humble education and little knowledge of the world, who speak about complex, even technical, issues that they know nothing or very little about.

In their haste to post and share, they do not pause to digest and understand or to check the facts. They are part and parcel of an ocean of distortion, and they are more than happy to ride the waves.

Alexander Pope said it more than three centuries-and-a-half ago: “A little learning is a dangerous thing.”

But some, perhaps many, are not innocent, ordinary people. They are politicised individuals who use these platforms to promote the ideas of their political parties or political affiliations; owners or employees of media institutions of sorts who have little or no ethics and are after “making an impact” at any expense or are blackmailing individuals and institutions for all types of gain; or opportunistic individuals who want recognition at any cost.

These three types often create enough noise to distort attention and even cripple action.

Both individuals and institutions in our society are wary of them, and often such individuals and institutions drop precious ideas or projects because of such noise, out of fear of being witch hunted.

Because this phenomenon of ruthless verbal onslaught or “discourse predators” is relatively new in our society, individuals and institutions do not know how to deal with it, and this is why they often allow it to win.

Recently, however, our society has been slowly coming to terms with it.

The state, in particular — encouraged by the King’s sixth paper about the rule of law — has started asserting itself in the face of such a nasty development quite strongly, especially since this phenomenon is rooted in blackmail, piracy and lawlessness.

But we, as individuals and institutions, need to assert ourselves even more strongly. 

On the one hand, if we believe that whatever we are doing or saying is both valid and fair, we should stick to it no matter what.

Correct, responsible ideas always prevail.

On the other hand, we need to address this malicious phenomenon collectively, attacking it from all directions.

Law enforcement is essential. But so is education.

It is incumbent upon our educational institutions, both at school and university levels, to chip in.

In particular, these institutions need to equip students with all the necessary skills which enable them to guard against such phenomenon and to be reliable, responsible communicators.

We, at the University of Jordan, are tackling this matter head on. To this end, we have substantially modified our first-year package of courses for all incoming students, as of the first semester 2017/2018.

The package, which is firmly grounded in liberal arts education, offers students courses that develop communication, research, critical thinking and cultural skills, theory of knowledge, etc. and a whole course on social media.

The youth, in particular, need to be at once protected and empowered. As a general rule, our society should never succumb to blackmail, piracy or embezzlement.

Speech/discourse predators and pirates are as bad as radicals and terrorists.