What you can learn from people who disagree with you
We’ve all likely felt this tendency to gravitate towards people who look, think and act like us. It’s comfortable, but it can also be harmful because this polarization that we face today isn’t just about believing that the other side is factually wrong. We are beginning to see the other side as malevolent beings with a hateful and hidden agenda. And you can see this. You can see this in the screaming cable news pundits, the politicians who vote down bills just because they come from the other side of the aisle. The hate groups that violently attack people who are different from themselves.
When I see these things as a teenager, I just feel so sad, so angry and so scared of this world that I’m soon going to be entering as an adult. But there’s something that I found in having conversations with my peers that I think can be a path forward from all of this. An approach that focuses on conversations with the intent to listen and learn. Not to win and not to agree.
→ https://www.ted.com/talks/shreya_joshi_what_you_can_learn_from_people_who_disagree_with_you
It helps a lot if you once in a while step out your comfort zone and talk about different topics then you usually do. You may learn a thing or two when you talk with someone you do not agree with.