Go to Tumblr. Type in a controversial topic or just something that people have strong opinions about. Look through posts and comments for how defensive people get about things that really don't matter all that much. Laugh because this is all happening on the internet in a forum that's not conducive to constructive debate because no one is listening and all the people are just yelling at each other.

If you haven't ever experienced a hostile comment thread or seen someone's rant about how they "didn't ask for/don't care about your opinion," then I'm confused about how you're reading this article, because I know it's not in print. We live in a day where everyone is an expert and dissent equates to hatred. Everyone must agree, or they must be stoned (via Twitter or other social medium in rant form). But here's the thing, if you really don't care about someone else's opinion, why do you feel the need to tell everyone how much you don't care?

First and foremost, we the people—in order to form a more perfect union—need to realize that by posting anything on social media, or doing anything that the public has knowledge of or could conceivably find out about, we open ourselves up to critique. This is foundational. If we all understood this and accepted it, maybe we really wouldn't care about what other people said when they disagreed. People are going to say things about you regardless of what you do, and—this is something that I have a really hard time remembering—you just have to let it go sometimes. But sometimes you should listen.

We aren't always right. Just because you feel something doesn't mean it's true. It's really arrogant and stupid to assume that any new information that's received must automatically be incorrect because it doesn't align with our feelings or what we believed before. Sometimes criticism is really helpful to our growth as people, artists, friends, performers, etc. If we weeded through the feedback we got more and truly considered people's opinions, whether or not we feel like it's true, we might just grow a little bit. There are certain things to which this doesn't apply, but those things are few and far between.

I am acutely aware that this all seems like I'm giving everyone license to just offer unsolicited advice or opinions, but I'm not. We don't know everything, but we sure act like we do sometimes. I think a lot of the time, people should just hold their tongues. What I am saying is that we need to stop whining and getting so defensive when someone tells us something we don't want to hear, or offers an opinion or advice that we didn't ask for. Don't tweet that you're "so over it." If you are, that isn't necessary.

In the words of Margaret Thatcher (paraphrased), "Being over it is like being a lady; if you have to tell me you are one, you're probably not."