Not for Argument’s Sake

Arguing for me is like music for a musician, or soccer for a soccer player; I love to do it. I could argue against something I agree with, or against something I have no opinion about. I don’t do it for the sake of arguing, but instead for the sole purpose of understanding every side to a story—putting one’s-self in somebody else’s shoes. In essence, I love to argue, because I want to understand the big picture, all the different angles.
Understanding, in my opinion, is the best reward of education. In math one might be learning algebra, geometry, or calculus, but it’s only learned when one understands why a=b and that there is more than one way to get the same answer, to achieve the same goal. In history, one learns about the Constitution and also understands why the president (of the U.S.) is elected through an electoral college, making the United States a democratic republic. In English one learns about different styles of literature, developing his/her own style and understanding the value of the choices one makes in his/her writing.
Inside of school, all of those subjects are isolated, each having its on set of rules and meaning, but outside of school, in society, all of those different subjects, and their teachings come together. One could take what he/she learned in math—about the different ways of achieving an answer—and what he/she learned in history—about the reason for the type of government in the United States—and what was learned English—about having a distinct style and the value of choices—to conclude that each society makes its own choices in the way its governed, which can be different from one’s own society, with the same common goal in mind, well-being of its citizens. One could also conclude that in an argument, there is no right opinion or wrong opinion, there are only reasons why somebody feels the way they do about a topic, which only takes a little understanding.
Every conflict is an argument. The more violence present in an argument means less amount of understanding by each side. We have brains to learn, to think, to make choices, and to communicate, to argue, without the use of violence. We have the ability to receive education, and we have languages to understand each other in. I argue in English, Spanish, French, and Portuguese.