“Your time is better spent championing good ideas than tearing down bad ones.

The best thing that can happen to a bad idea is that it is forgotten. The best thing that can happen to a good idea is that it is shared.

Feed the good ideas and let bad ideas die of starvation.” – James Clear

There is an increasing tendency in the world of finance to be confrontational. This isn’t unique to finance and investing. It is a reflection of society. One of the most common complaints against Facebook is that it algorithmically feeds the flames of conflict and hatred.

Whatever is driving this trend, it isn’t helpful for any one. The irony is that even if you ‘win’ an argument, you still haven’t really won. As Vitaliy Katsenelson writes:

“Criticism is futile because it puts a person on the defensive and usually makes him strive to justify himself. Criticism is dangerous because it wounds a person’s precious pride, hurts his sense of importance and arouses resentment.”

When it comes to investing you are not in competition with any individual. You are really only competing against yourself. So feeding into the negativity is really only hurting you. As Joshua Brown at The Reformed Broker writes:

The ability to disagree with others respectfully is an investing superpower. It keeps the door open to change our own minds. And to learn new things from unexpected sources. To reverse ourselves when necessary. To detoxify the environment around us. To grow.

You don’t have to reinforce your, or someone else’s, worst instincts. You can be gentle, you can grow, you can feed the good ideas. You can opt out of the game of disrespect and anger.