Age of Reasoning

Age of Reasoning is driving me crazy. I always lived in the assumption that reasoning is the attribute of a sane personality. I am beginning to question that now. What is sane and what is reasoning? Sanity cannot possibly mean that for every action there has to be a sensible explanation or for every action, there has to be a reason no matter whether it is an intelligent reasoning or asinine assumptions. Having an opinion about issues is definitely an admirable quality but cynical and careless statements have become the fashion statement for people who likes to be seen and heard but without any substance.

I say I am tired and people think I am over-worked, I say headache and people say either too much computer or caffeine, I say stomach pain and of course, it has to be menstruation, I yawn and there comes “didn’t you sleep well last night” statements, I say I am hungry and I get no need to diet lines and if I say, my clothes don’t fit, the automated comment is, “have you put on weight?” So many questions and voluntary reasoning for what can be a simple statement from an individual. Why is it so necessary to comment on every issue and that too, the personal side of human life? My reasoning is that probably these are the safest areas to talk about. Politics will get you in trouble, academic discussions will scandalize the level of understanding, art and creativity is there to be criticized, work life balance is official/personal (??) and the list is endless. Needless to say, every topic becomes a discussion, every issue becomes a reason and every reason has a chain reaction.

Then does this mean that human conversation is based on the norm that one has to comment if the other party is voicing a statement? Is silence from one party understood and interpreted as uncommunicative and rude or is it just a natural process not to be taken too seriously? Or is it just a cultural phenomenon? Does this differ between gender, age and social positioning? I am actually very curious to know since this is something I have failed to reason with. I have completely misunderstood the fashion of reasoning and tend to be too nervous of providing opinions for my profession requires communicating constructive feedbacks and my personal opinions can be very political, strong and challenging.

So what am I left with then? Laughing off to every reasoning to my comments can be tiresome no matter how hard I try to put up a brave face. Expecting someone to be a sport in every occasion is asking a bit too much from that individual yet the satisfactory smile on the providers face is a reason enough to reply back which then might trigger a verbal diarrhea. Really hats off to people who can just walk out or enter into a meditative state from these fixities of life. I feel lot of work can actually be done if people were not to get personal comments even if that carries a casual tone. This is not to say that fear of constructive criticism exists, this is merely to state the fact that getting too personal on issues can have a disturbing impact though it may not show on the face.

Let us just smile and be honest to ourselves, sympathizing with the ones who are at the receiving end. Honesty does not mean we have to be vocal about every issue and provide comments when it actually is not required. Let us concentrate more on making a difference in the society that we live in. Rather than commenting and voluntary reasoning on the physical attributes of people or being too quick on commenting on their thoughts and processes, we can divert our mind and attention to appreciate their existence.

I am not advocating false praises and ready-made smileys but what I am trying to say is that sometimes there does not have to be a reason to do and say things that people want to do and say. Rather, let us raise our voices against the atrocities that are happening in our society, let us join hands and contribute our voices for equal opportunities, let us provide feedback to the right people and forum advocating proper education for all, let us ensure our arguments are strong to justify a safer today for you, me and our future generation. Do these actions need reasons?

Labanya