The Wisdom in Waiting

Voicing opinions takes a lot of courage. In voicing mine I feel a sense of uncertainty. Something Aubrey brought to my attention is that the words we choose to use are landscapes on a page that influence perceptions and change opinions. This helped me realize the true power behind words. With the advancement of the printing press, ideas were able to spread in a new and violent way. In "How Martin Luther Started a Religious Revolution", an article by National geographic, the power of the printing press is recognized in Martin Luther’s call for reformation. This article talks about the reformation sparked by Martin Luther's words “Despite his absence”, his “words and writings were spreading like wildfire throughout Germany, thanks in part to the printing revolution”. This ability to voice opinions even if they were contrary to those in control is the bravest new world.

Unfortunately, this world is at risk as this ability to voice opinions has become so relaxed that it has lost meaning. With the advancements of technology we now have our own mini printing presses -- our cell phones. Applications like Twitter, Facebook, and Email act as our personal couriers. If we choose to, what we say can be seen all around the world instantaneously. While this instant access is a miracle and can be used to do so much good, we are depriving ourselves of the time needed to formulate educated opinions. In a  world where the shelf life of a "relevant tweets" is an hour to a few days, we naturally want to be sure to get a point across before it loses relevance. Serious topics that our ancestors might have spent weeks, months or years dwelling on, we discuss behind screens and the only time we spend thinking on the topic is dependent on how long it takes to type a response and hit send. Communication becomes less personal as the lack of thought behind it turns our encounters into a "social mirage" with no substance. 
Hoping to not discourage, but to merely shed light on the subject. I believe that although we are living in a time where true value in voicing our honest opinions is lost, we can find it by recognizing the ease we have in getting our opinion out into the world and better exercise self-control. Taking the time to think and experience, we will find ourselves influencing others like Martin Luther. In doing this there can be value once again in the Bravest New World of voicing opinions.