Is Zuckerberg right? - The beauty of conflict & free speech!

The decision to remove fact-checkers from social media platforms might sound reckless, but what if it’s the key to unleashing personal responsibility in the digital age? Join me, Stew Darling, as we torch the traditional rulebook of life and explore the chaotic beauty of free speech and conflict. Through our journey, we confront the controversial move by Facebook under Mark Zuckerberg’s leadership, challenging us to take control of the information we consume. This episode isn’t about shielding you from uncomfortable truths—it's about fostering curiosity, respectful debate, and viewing conflict as a pathway to mutual understanding and growth.

Together, we'll unpack strategies to navigate this new era of unverified content, where everyone is urged to become their own fact-checker. From questioning what triggers our beliefs to engaging in conversations with openness using phrases like "I'm curious" or "Tell me about," we pave the way for healthier interactions. By the end of our time together, you’ll not only see the beauty in conflict but also embrace the responsibility that comes with the freedom of speech. This isn't just a podcast episode—it's a call to rise beyond limits, one question at a time.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:01

Welcome to Unstoppable Force Living Beyond Our Limits, the podcast where we take the rulebook of life, set it on fire and rise like a phoenix from the ashes new and unstoppable. I'm your host. Stu Darling, a former soldier and spy, turned mental wellness and personal development renegade, here to shake up the way you think, lead and live. This isn't your typical feel-good pep talk. We're diving into the messy, the uncomfortable and the downright wild parts of life to uncover what it really takes to unlock the unstoppable power within you. Expect unfiltered truths, stories that will make you laugh, cry or yell, hell yeah, and game-changing insights to fuel your next big leap. So buckle up. It is time to stop tiptoeing through life and start kicking doors in. You're not here to play small. You are here to live beyond your limits. Let's get into it. Welcome to the podcast. When I moved away from rediscovering, I promised myself and I don't do promises that Unstoppable Force would maybe ask some deeper questions, and some of those questions might get a little bit confrontational, and that's okay. We might find that some people stop listening, and that's okay too, but I hope when we actually work our way through this podcast you'll realize that actually, if you hear something that maybe you disagree with or you're not comfortable with. Maybe that's actually the time to listen. And the reason that I start this podcast with that statement is I was reading in the media the other day about Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg's decision to remove the fact checker and the outcry and gnashings of teeth about what will happen to Facebook, and I've got some thoughts on it. And towards the end of this podcast, I will give you three ideas to consider. As we move into this new era where facts are not checked, even more random content might be available on social media as it is on X Fact-checking. Now, before we actually get to fact-checking, let me back up just a wee bit.

Speaker 1: 2:51

I believe in free speech. I do not believe in hate speech, but I do believe in free speech. I believe in debate, healthy, respectful debate. I also believe that conflict is a good thing. Now that word conflict conjures up scenes of Syria, ukraine, but conflict can also be a healthy conversation. Conflict can be an opportunity to learn from one another, to take a step back and understand why someone feels that way.

Speaker 1: 3:35

When Lizzie, who many of you know, was talking about drug use, substance use, with our son, she would use the phrase I'm curious. I'm curious to understand. I use the phrase tell me about. Both of those phrases I'm curious or tell me about are give up control. They allow the other person to tell a story. It doesn't matter where that story starts or ends. It gives them the freedom to choose. But what it also does from the person asking the question tell me about, I'm curious is somewhere to start. It allows them to understand a different perspective, and that leads to a healthy conflict. It leads to us learning about one another rather than being divisive. We don't have to worry about being left or right or even who's right or wrong. We grow together because we are curious.

Speaker 1: 4:51

So we've got to be more curious, and I think that what Zuckerberg has decided to do by removing the fact checker is to give us our responsibility back. It's saying to all the users of Facebook hey, take responsibility for the content, take responsibility for what you choose to, the pages that you choose to follow, the people that you choose to listen to. Take responsibility for fact-checking what you are reading, don't just assume that it is fact. And then, for those of us who are posting, it also puts a responsibility on us to provide the background, the referencing, for the work we are doing. So what are the three things that we can really do to help ourselves out here? Well, the first one I've already mentioned. The first one is let's do our research. Let's actually read something and then think ah right, this is the start point of my journey of knowledge. Let's go back to first principles. Why am I being confronted by this? Why is this triggering me? And then we go and ask deeper and deeper questions Is our planet or is it flat? There's a great example of a live debate. But actually, if we do our research, the evidence is clear. The evidence is clear that we live on a sphere, not on a frisbee. So what is it that you need to do more research on?

Speaker 1: 6:50

Back in the olden days, witchcraft was a huge belief. The wise women of the village, those with the green fingers I actually talk about this in Unstoppable a book in the end they were vilified because of the work that they were doing. They were outcast by society. Why? Well, because stories began to circulate and, unfortunately, these stories began to circulate and the printing press was invented. Therefore, those stories could circulate more broadly. And look what resulted. Look what humans did to other humans as a result of just a blind belief, a lack of doing the research. And we've got the opportunity to do research these days. The internet is there. We can do the research. Fortunately, libraries still exist, we can have conversation. And that brings me to the second idea of what we can do in order to do our own fact checking Learn to debate.

Speaker 1: 8:06

Debate used to be a part of the school curriculum. We used to have debating clubs when I was at school. You would learn how to do your research on a subject, whether you agreed with it or not, and then learn to debate it, learn the pros and cons of each side, and then it would go to a vote about who the better debater was, whether or not the one side or the other was more believed to be correct. So we've got to learn to debate again. Not shout, not stamp our feet, not walk away, but actually have conversations, remembering that we are having a conversation about the issue, not the person. If we're having the conversation about the person, the ego gets involved. We begin to argue, we begin to protect our own position and guess what? We start to shout, we start to fight and no one gains. That's the negative side of conflict. But if we're respectful when we debate, we have the opportunity to learn the third idea.

Speaker 1: 9:16

Where should we go in order to debate? Go to the places we are not comfortable. Yeah, there's little point in sitting in the same group, I don't know in the pub, in the bar or in the office. You've always been in and having these conversations because it's an echo chamber. It's just the sounding board. You're going to get to hear what you want to hear. But go and go and engage with people that maybe you disagree with, belief systems or organizations who you question what they talk about. Go have the conversation. Walk in with vulnerability and humility, invite them to do the same and have the conversation. This is really the basis of the negotiation work that I spent most of my military career doing, that. I spend time in my business life now doing so. Those three points.

Speaker 1: 10:15

It doesn't really matter whether there is a fact checker or not in Facebook. If we take responsibility for the information that we choose to ingest, to do our research, come to our own conclusions and be willing to give up those conclusions if a new piece of information comes to the fore. Just as happened when we thought the world was flat, when we thought the heavens revolved around this planet. And then you know, let's learn to debate, learn to be uncomfortable in a conversation, knowing that you're talking about a subject, you're not fighting with your opposition, it's the subject we're debating, and let's do it respectfully. And then, finally, let's go to the places we are less comfortable. Let's engage in the subjects that make us feel a little bit ugh, those subjects that trigger us, those organizations that we question the validity of. Let's go there and have the conversations and learn more, because as we learn more, it's either going to reinforce our belief or it's going to make us think again Little bit different. This is the direction I hope this podcast is going to go in. We're going to pick up challenging issues and have a conversation about them, and let's make it a conversation. I will see you next time.

Speaker 1: 11:51

That is it for today's episode of Unstoppable Force Living Beyond Our Limits. If you're feeling fired up and ready to take on the world for today's episode of Unstoppable Force living beyond our limits, if you're feeling fired up and ready to take on the world, don't keep it to yourself. Share the love. Send this episode to a friend who needs a little push, or, hey, just send it to your entire contact list and don't forget to subscribe so you'll never miss a dose of unstoppable energy. Leave a review if today's episode hit you where it feels or gave you that aha moment. Your feedback keeps this rocket fuel coming Until next time. Keep pushing, keep growing and remember the only limit is the one you refuse to break. See you next time.