I recently came across a powerful rule for deciding when to debate a topic.
“Educate the people you care about. Validate the people you don’t.”
When someone we care about has faulty thinking on an important topic, we should try and help them see reality.
This isn’t arrogant because when we’re the one with poor judgement, we’d like them to return the favour.
Sometimes, though, we meet people that speak at length, and in ignorance, about an idea.
It could be that we’re unlikely to see them again, or that our fates are not tied together, or perhaps we just don’t want the hassle of debating a stranger. For these people, it’s okay to simply “validate” them: acknowledge their point of view, tell them it’s an interesting way to look at a situation, but neither agree nor disagree with them.
We have a limited amount of energy each day. It’s wise to save that energy for the people and topics we really care about.