Changing the World One View at a Time – with Reddit superstar Kal Turnbull

“One begins with a judgment and ends with a judgment, and the purpose of facts and figures is to come in between them is to make the one you end with more accurate.” This wise comment came from the grand-dad of Kal Turnbull, the founder of Change My View in the Reddit community.

In this interview, Kal shares his discoveries with a community of over 520,000 people willing to engage in civil discourse about views they currently don’t buy into. The conversation began with a definition of Fisking (it’s not dirty!) and when to consider using it and when not to.

Called by Elon Musk as the “most civil place on the web,” Kal’s community exchanges ideas in a way unlike anywhere else in our world. Kal noted that good conversations on opposing views require (1) Tone that avoids shame and accusation, (2) a general sense of dispassion (although passion is not a bad thing overall), and (3) Data to support the argument. Ultimately, Kal cites Socrates as the great example of engaging someone in a view-changing discussion.

Maybe most important of all our discussion topics was the comment: We don’t ALWAYS need a view. Chew on that one for a while!

Kal is also a musician and, of course, we engaged in chatter about songwriting and performing. All enjoyable for us and we hope you enjoy it, too.