On De-Clichéing Dialogue
A Note Before the Wisdorise Conversations
Before beginning the release of the episodes that have already been recorded, I find it necessary to clarify a few points.
First, the central idea of Wisdorise is a conscious departure from common clichés. In the podcasting space, introducing guests through academic degrees, formal credentials, titles, awards, or conventional narratives of “success” has become a repetitive pattern. From my perspective, this approach is not only clichéd but often misleading. I am a serious critic of credentialism, and I deliberately distance myself from it. I am not concerned with how educated someone is in formal terms, how successful they consider themselves. What matters to me is the person’s mind, the ideas they have formed, the suffering they have endured, and the lessons they have drawn from that suffering. In this sense, people who have struggled, failed, or carried deep wounds are often far more compelling to me than those who are famous or conventionally successful.
Another prevailing cliché is the idea of winning and losing in conversation, as if dialogue were a competition with a victor and a defeated party. Wisdorise is not built on such a premise. Conversation here is not a tool for domination or for proving intellectual superiority. It is a space for presenting ideas, confronting differences, expanding mutual understanding, and demonstrating that it is possible to think in opposing ways, engage calmly, and still maintain a respectful and humane relationship.
A third cliché is the evaluation of content based on metrics such as likes, comments, or visibility. These indicators are not my criteria, and in many cases, they run counter to the purpose of this project. The deeper, more complex, and less surface-level a discussion becomes, the more limited its audience will naturally be. In such contexts, the nature of audience engagement also changes. Those who are genuinely capable of engaging with serious discussion rarely settle for immediate or superficial reactions.
For this reason, comments that merely express brief praise or momentary frustration hold little analytical value for me. I ask the audience to pause and reflect before commenting. Instead of emotional discharge, pursue curiosity. Ask questions, offer critique, and engage in discussion. Substack is fundamentally designed for extended, layered, and thoughtful exchanges, not for short and impulsive reactions.
My effort in Wisdorise is to consciously remove these clichés, but this cannot be achieved alone. The formation of such a space requires active participation and support from its audience.
The second point concerns the linguistic structure and human network of this project. The individuals I speak with, based on lived experience, fall into two groups: Persian-speaking and English-speaking. This distinction does not imply cultural or intellectual uniformity; it simply reflects the language through which we communicate. For this reason, I decided from the outset to develop Wisdorise as a bilingual project. The English episodes are not mere repetitions of the Persian ones; they often represent a different intellectual landscape. All English episodes include subtitles and can offer insight into how people from different cultural contexts think, perceive the world, and engage in discussion.
The third point is an invitation to more active participation. Whenever you feel you have serious questions or a genuine interest in direct dialogue, you are welcome to request a podcast recording. This space is not limited to specific individuals or aligned schools of thought. I am willing to engage in conversation with anyone, regardless of their framework of thinking. Where my knowledge is limited, I will state this openly and welcome learning from you. Wisdorise is not a one-directional or top-down educational platform; it is a space for the exchange of ideas.
The fourth point is that this project is not designed for fast, entertaining, or consumable content. Conversations may be slow, silences may occur, and some questions may remain unanswered. This is intentional. Wisdorise does not aim to resolve everything or arrive at definitive conclusions. Sometimes the value of a conversation lies in opening a question rather than closing it.
The last point concerns responsibility. Understanding these conversations is not solely the task of the speaker; it also belongs to the listener. This project does not promise excessive simplification or ready-made explanations. If certain parts feel difficult, ambiguous, or challenging, this is inherent to the nature of the dialogue. Wisdorise is an invitation to active intellectual engagement, not passive consumption.