listening to the other side
I listen to, and sometimes actively seek out ideas that are very different to mine. Sometimes ideas that are even harmful to society (racist, or bigoted ideas) or are painful for me to read. This is extremely controversial, and many of my friends are surprised I do this, or even dislike me for doing it. I do not mean to give a platform to harmful ideas, or tacitly endorse them. I also do not imply that harmful ideas are valid. Some ideas are fucking horrible and deserve to die out. That said, let me explain the reasons why I actively seek out ideas that are counter to mine.
- If you have a warrior’s fervor in your political opinions, it makes sense to know who your enemy is. I’ve heard so many arguments that completely go over the heads of opponents because people don’t know what their opponents are actually thinking. I’m reasonably confident in my ability to make actually convincing points because I make an attempt to understand why my opponents think they way they do.
- When I first added /r/conservative to my feed, I found myself in disgust at all the stupid and obviously vague headlines. Accusations of hypocrisy, incompetence, and corruption that took only an ounce of critical thinking to see through. Thing is, while I felt that way initially about /r/conservative, I soon started feeling that way about my left leaning subreddits as well. What had happened was that left leaning BS slipped under my radar easily because it agreed with my views while I had a visceral angry reaction to conservative BS of the same sort. Over time however, I recognized the patterns regardless of political ideology. Seeing the evil tricks used by the other side made me more aware of those same tricks used by my own side.
- Much of my confidence in my own views comes from the fact that I’ve seen the strongest possible opposition. The smartest people arguing against me, and still I stuck with my views. That’s really all I have to say. I can’t imagine someone simultaneously being confident in their ideas while also refusing to hear any opposition or criticism.
- the other is not unified
There are some ideas that are just plain stupid. Not every idea is valid and deserves attention. That said, not every idea you disagree with is just plain stupid. Looking at a slew of ideas that make you uncomfortable makes your own views and self stronger.
“I study bigots not because I want to empathize with them, but to avoid becoming a bigot myself. When you dehumanize the villains, you become unable to understand the villain within” - Natalie Wynn, aka Contrapoints
