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What Grinds Our Gears: The “Devil’s advocate” guy

OpinionsWhat Grinds Our Gears

We’ve got enough going on to argue for the sake of arguing

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The advocatus diaboli can go straight to hell. Alyssa Umbal / The Peak

By: Yasmin Vejs Simsek, Staff Writer

“Just playing the devil’s advocate” is arguing for the sake of argument, and it helps nothing.  

I’ve had people tell me that white cisgender straight men are discriminated against in western societies, that hiring quotas are unfair, and that I wouldn’t know because I’m a woman. Never mind that I am doing a Masters in gender studies. It’s so ludicrous I can only assume people say this to wind me up. Why engage then?

Who even gave these Luciferian advocates the autonomy to play their role? The only people that find pleasure in this concept are people from a privileged background who never had to argue and defend their identity or heritage to anyone. The same goes for men who feel the need to throw in a bit of mansplaining for good measure.  

Do we not have enough to fight about in our day-to-day lives? No, Gladys, we don’t need to hear you give the “other” point of view on LGBTQIA2S+ rights. And no, Bert, we don’t need to hear about your fake research into how global warming is a hoax. We’re still fighting a pandemic, witnessing a war that’s negatively impacting global trade, and hey! Monkey pox!  

Sure, some people want to argue the other side to things like the earth being flat and arguably it’s not hurting anyone directly per se. But the midway point between nonsense and sense is still nonsense. So next time you want to play Devil’s advocate, think about why. Is there a need for this discussion? Will anyone gain anything from it? Will I spontaneously combust if I don’t take on this role? If the answer is no to any of the above, practice silence and see your surroundings flourish.

And so the Devil’s advocates can go straight to hell.

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Simon Fraser University’s independent student newspaper since 1965.

For advertising inquiries: [email protected]
For promotional inquiries: [email protected]

© The Peak Publications Society