Talk or Tools?

When I think about the IdEA310 course and am faced to decide if the experience is about talking about doing something or giving me to tools to go do something, I find it difficult to take a side completely.  I say this mainly for the reason that we need to talk about and understand something before we CAN take action.  Not only to we talk about our own point of view, but we get to hear and argue other points as well.

It is only then, after truly understanding the situation can we do something about it.  This too, however, is difficult and time consuming.  Taking action on a given topic may not mean that we go right out and join a demonstration for equal rights or better medical coverage.  It means we are armed with the tool, of knowledge, to go out, when the time is right, and stand up for what we believe is right.  At that point we are no longer a person with an opinion, but a person with an understanding.

Our society today would rather argue on a basis of individual opinion.  If we can argue on a level of understanding and have the goal of solving a problem, then we just might learn to compromise and get something done.  This, however, requires the first step: understanding the situation and how your opinions fit in.