Claim: We can usually learn much more from people whose views we share than from those whose views contradict our own.Reason: Disagreement can cause stress and inhibit learning.Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagre

In idea, it’s easier to have conversations about certain topics with people who share similar views to ours. We may not have to worry about getting frustrated or having to get defensive, which is something that can usually happen with a lot of arguments. However, I don’t believe that we can usually learn much more from people who share our same views than from those who have contradicting views to our own, simply because there’s always so much to learn from someone with a different perspective.

Take into mind the person who is pro-life. The reasons for that person’s belief in pro-life stems from the view that life starts when it is conceived, and thus a life should never be terminated. To that person, it is the equivalent of murder. Perhaps that person then talks to another who has the same belief, and that belief stems from the same place. They may get into a discussion about it, but are they really learning any new piece of information? Are they retaining an insight into a different worldview? Not really. Both are in the comfort of their shared beliefs and thus, in their own mind, there’s no possibility for defensiveness or hostility. If someone who was pro-life came into the picture, however, and then stated their reasons for believing the opposite (e.g., that they aren’t necessarily saying that abortion is good or that it needs to happen, just that the woman deserves to have the right to choose what to do with her own body) perhaps the other two people may, at first, hesitate. Their views have always been painted as either pro-abortion or anti-abortion, without really taking into account the freedom of the woman to undergo what she wants. They had never really thought about how individual choice played a part in it, and so they start to look at the other person’s viewpoint. In this case, they’re learning a new perspective. They’re paying attention and just understanding where other people may come from. At the end of the day they may still be pro-life, but now they can say they “get” why others may disagree. The contradiction of views from someone else may open someone’s mind a little further and may provide a more penetrating insight as to realizing that the world isn’t just black and white.

It’s not surprising to see why one could assume that there could be more learning from someone with a similar worldview than someone with a differing one, however, simply because as mentioned above there can definitely be many negative emotions brought in. If someone with a contradictory view comes into the picture with hostility and aggressiveness, announcing that their belief is right and that everyone else is wrong, there may be no opportunity to grow one’s mind in any way. The others who disagree with this person may just further believe that everyone who disagrees with them must then be irrational. This would do nothing to advance any learning of any viewpoint. They may also get too emotionally attached to their view without trying to look at it from a neutral perspective, and the stress associated with defending it would just hinder any benefits from the argument. So, yes, disagreement can definitely cause stress and inhibit learning, but it doesn’t always. Maybe disagreement can come in the form of patience and understanding, and as mentioned previously, further benefit our insight. Really, whether someone learns more from someone with a similar point of view or someone with a contradictory point of view entirely depends on the context and the situation, but it’s fallacious to state that the case is that one can usually learn more from a similar view when that differing perspective is needed to take into account our own beliefs and to consider them in a more rational, unbiased manner.

In reality, disagreement is crucial. It’s important to be able to defend our positions in a way that encourages us to try to have others understand where we’re coming from without resorting to turning the situation into a negative one. One can even say that, in most cases, disagreement can actually lead to more learning than similarity in views, because it will offer the chance for that new perspective that a similarity in views may not.