Readers discuss how to better develop shared solutions to global challenges, content creation ethics, and Anti-Asian discrimination
A glimpse of the solution for them might be found right in my dorm’s common room. The gatherings here look like a scene from a school brochure: we’re not only racially diverse, we also represent three continents, five religions, the full spectrum of political beliefs and a range of socioeconomic backgrounds. Besides the usual chatter about school, we have debates about politics, culture and religion – all the topics one is supposed to avoid in polite company.
But this is not polite company. We frequently take controversial, even offensive, positions on thorny topics. It would be easy to dismiss our discussions as the boneheaded joking of teenage boys, but for me, the common room is a laboratory where we test hypotheses for the world. Safe among trusted friends, I can say anything and my peers feel free to shoot my ideas down, agree, or help refine them by pointing out flaws in my arguments.
More than anywhere else, this setting helps me understand others’ views – and my own. The more time I spend in the adult world, the more I realise how anomalous this experience is.
