Argumentatively Speaking

  
If we can’t argue with our friends, who can we argue with? More and more I see people separating themselves from those they don’t see eye to eye with. I cannot find any benefit in this trend for anyone. It seems to me that this mindset is only making us more and more certain that we’re right, with less and less information to base our rightness on. When we surround ourselves with only likeminded people, we stand unopposed. This feels very comfortable, but the problem in this harmonious existence is that unopposed views get weak. If we never listen to opposing views we are never forced to examine our own views, and unexamined views become less relevant every day. If we do not challenge our views with discussion and debate, our views languish due to lack of exercise. Views that are not exercised become rigid and inflexible, and inflexible views eventually splinter and break.

I consider myself lucky to be surrounded by people who argue ….I mean challenge me regularly.