The joy of the internet... I read an email, that had a link to a blogpost, that was about a book that had a really interesting concept in it. I haven't read the book, yet, which is called 'How to Think', but found the idea at the heart of the blog quite thought-provoking. Rather than spending time with people who are like-minded, who share your views, beliefs, opinions; spend time with people who are like-hearted, in their attitude and openness regardless of whether they share your views.
Here's the blog - have a read... - it's by a guy who writes about creativity, including a book called 'Steal like an Artist' - one of those books with a title which means you probably don't need to read the book!
I see the value of like-heartedness in a couple of different ways. It's easy to be in an echo chamber of like-minded people, where everybody reflects your views and in essence agrees with you. The risk of the echo chamber is that you find it harder and harder to see the reality of people who don't share those views and that you collectively cultivate a sense of truth and 'rightness' in your views. Secondly, you can end up lumbered in a group just because you agree with someone on a topic or have a shared interest in something, and yet find their attitudes around it quite uncomfortable. Why feel obliged to associate with this just because you are 'like-minded' - social media being a great example of how you can end up in a camp by having an interest in something even if you don't really get the people - another version of joining the dots.
In the blog it points to the fact that if you have a connection to someone and are open and curious, in their words, "temperamentally disposed to openness and have habits of listening.”, you can explore quite different opinions and at times come to a new one... and that it's a lot more fun being there, than in the echo chamber.
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