The Personal Website of Mark W. Dawson

Miscellaneous Items

Each of these items has their own web page. Please click on the hyperlink to read my thoughts on these items.

• Addiction (Sep 2018) - My personal experience and perspective on Addiction.
• Depression & Anxiety (Sep 2018) - My personal experience and perspective on Depression & Anxiety.
• Introverted (Sep 2018) - My personal experience and perspective on Introversion.
• May Peace Be Upon You (Sep 2018) - The short and long eulogies that I have written.
• Mental Illness (Sep 2018) - My personal experience and perspective on Mental Illness.
• Pornography & Prostitution (Sep 2018) - If prostitution is the world's oldest profession, then pornography is the world's oldest occupation. These are my thoughts.
• Public Speaking (Sep 2018) - A guide to overcoming your fear of public speaking from someone who has accomplish this feat.

You may be wondering about my qualifications to pontificate on these subjects. For the above items I have had personal and intimate experience with these issues and I based my observation on this. I also believe that I am qualified because I am a thinking human being. I utilize my knowledge and experience in life, as well as researching both the facts and opinions of others, including those with whom I may disagree. I then apply my reasoning and logical skills to reach an opinion. And it is just my opinion which I readily admit. I am also willing to admit that I may be wrong, and if I discover that I am wrong I am just as readily willing to change my opinion. Therefore, check-back every so often to determine if I have changed my opinion which can be determine by the date of the article.

The incandescent light bulb has often been described as a heat source that provides some light, given that a light bulb generates more heat than it does light. In today's public debates we often find the proponents of an issue providing a lot of heat and only a little light. These observations are meant to provide illumination (light) and not argumentation (heat).

Opponents in today's society often utilize the dialog and debate methodology of Demonize, Denigrate, and Disparage their opponent when discussing issues, policies, and personages. To demonize, denigrate, or disparage the messenger to avoid consideration of the message is not acceptable if the message has supporting evidence.

The only acceptable method of public discourse is disagreement - to be of different opinions. If you are in disagreement with someone you should be cognizant that people of good character can and often disagree with each other. The method of their disagreement is very important to achieve civil discourse. There are two ways you can disagree with someone; by criticizing their opinions or beliefs or critiquing their opinions or beliefs.

• Criticism - Disapproval expressed by pointing out faults or shortcomings.
• Critique - A serious examination and judgment of something.

Most people, and most commentators have forgotten the difference between Criticism and Critique. This has led to the hyper-partisanship in today's society. In a civil society critiquing a viewpoint or policy position should be encouraged. This will often allow for a fuller consideration of the issues, and perhaps a better viewpoint or policy position without invoking hyper-partisanship. We can expect that partisanship will often occur, as people of good character can and often disagree with each other. Criticizing a viewpoint or policy position will often lead to hostility, rancor, and enmity, which results in the breakdown of civil discourse and hyper-partisanship. It is fine to criticize someone for their bad or destructive behavior, but it is best to critique them for their opinions or words. We would all do better if we remember to critique someone, rather than criticize someone.