Recently I was talking to one of the students that I was coaching for debate, and we were talking about echo chambers.
I was telling her about how I wanted her to challenge her own beliefs by keeping people around her who do not automatically agree with her. Because sometimes, when everybody around us agrees with us, we start to think that maybe our way of seeing things is the only correct way.
I showed her this using my own Facebook as an example. I have a lot of different friends that I still follow, even though they do not necessarily have the same point of view as me. Same also with some of the pages that I follow. Sometimes I don’t agree with what they are saying, but I still follow because they provide insights from a perspective that is contrary to what I believe.
For me, this is important.
Especially for her, as a young mind, if she wants to grow, she should be willing to listen. To open up. Not necessarily to agree, but at least to understand why another person thinks differently.
Then we were talking about that old saying, “Keep your friends close, keep your enemies closer.”
Maybe “enemies” is a bit strong lah 😅, but there is something quite true about it.
Sometimes the people who disagree with us, or even the people who don’t really like us, are the ones who will point out things about us that our friends may not say. They may talk about our weaknesses, our mistakes, or the negative side of us.
Of course, not everything they say is true.
But maybe once in a while, instead of immediately becoming defensive, we should listen.
Because sometimes, somewhere inside all that criticism, there might be something that we need to hear.
And I think that is one way we grow.