A lovely encounter with intellectual kindness

The other day I had an encounter with an unfamiliar academic who has left a huge impression on me.

Concerned with some public activity on their social media, I contacted the academic privately to voice my problems and ask for clarification and understanding. I felt that I disagreed with this academic, but wanted to engage with them in a way that was mature and open to honest discussion without things escalating to an argument. My concern came from my perspective at the time that they were being unfair on a particular topic, and that perhaps discussing that topic with them from my point of view might shed some light on a level of nuance they weren’t communicating online.

Thankfully, they understood this approach and responded to my message.

They laid out their point of view in a concise and respectful manner, supported by facts, and discussed it in such a way that I felt heard while still being disagreed-with. As a matter of fact, I ended up changing my mind on the topic as a consequence of the information they were giving me. I still maintain that their interactions on social media lacked the bits of information which benefited me in private, but alas, it’s their social media account – should an academic be obliged to have nuance in every conversation they have online, even in their relatively ‘private’ social spaces? I have my own stance on this issue, which is a topic for another day.

Not once did I feel the need to be defensive or argue my point; it was a calm, collegiate conversation with a clear beginning and end, and served the purpose of genuine communication. And, while I felt that I strongly disagreed with the academic at the beginning of the conversation, I went through their points (considering that their field of expertise overlapped with the topic being discussed). By the end of the conversation, I found that my original stance lacked the expertise and insight that this academic possessed and with the benefit of extra context, I was willing to change my stance.

I wish that more academic interactions were this friendly and open. I walked away from the conversation feeling like I knew more, and understood better, than when I started. I thanked the academic for their free time used on the conversation and let them be.

And now, dear readers, I will be aiming to approach communications in my own line of work as well as this academic did with me. Thank you, dear professor, for demonstrating intellectual kindness. I dedicate this post to you.

Madeleine Kendrick (@MIKendrick94) is a PhD candidate (Scholarship Recipient, Full-time), an Academic Research Assistant, and a Business Consultant. This story was published on February 11, 2019, on Madeleine’s blog, Research & Beyond (available here), and has been republished here with her permission.