Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Learning From Disagreement

Posted in response to this question on Quora:
 
Politics: Is it a good idea to follow people whose political opinions you strongly disagree with on Quora?

For my part, I learn more from those who disagree with me than from those who don't.  However, finding such people merely opens a tiny crack in a door that must be swung wide if either of us is to benefit from the experience.  Knowledge is gained by discourse between people holding different points of view who wish to resolve their differences by reasoned arguments.  The purpose is not to debate the issues but to apply reason to reach rational conclusions.  Unfortunately (for me), Quora does not support the kind of in-depth discussion necessary to encourage those tiny shifts in perspective that broaden our minds.

Fred Gohlke

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