Talk to people who disagree!
If there is something you believe in, something you support completely, or even ideas you are pretty sure are right... Find someone who disagrees with you and talk to them! I think this day in age that is the challenge facing people. It is too easy to find people who agree with you, to listen to talking heads on TV that tell you what you want to hear, or just altogether avoid the other side of an issue. And, don't talk to them like you are trying to convert them, that is a good way to make sure they never come back, show them you are honestly interested in their opinion. Do your best to encourage further conversation by listening more than talking, and maybe they will return the favor by listening to you in return. Many of them are just as smart as you and I, so don't be afraid to change your opinion in light of new information or better reasoning.
God knows I am not all that good at this... I tend to just go off the deep end at times, so sure I am right, they are wrong, and they have to admit it! So this is advice for myself, and I'm working on it. But I hear conversations around me in school, work, etc where people who disagree just part ways to go find someone more pleasant to talk to. I say talk to, not with, because these people aren't looking for a discussion they are looking for reinforcement. I think this is the mental equivalent to coasting down hill. The more you do it the harder it is to see the side streets (alternative points of view) and the faster you go the harder it is to change course (your opinion).
So I guess my goals are to try to listen more, talk less, and to stop mentally coasting down hill.
God knows I am not all that good at this... I tend to just go off the deep end at times, so sure I am right, they are wrong, and they have to admit it! So this is advice for myself, and I'm working on it. But I hear conversations around me in school, work, etc where people who disagree just part ways to go find someone more pleasant to talk to. I say talk to, not with, because these people aren't looking for a discussion they are looking for reinforcement. I think this is the mental equivalent to coasting down hill. The more you do it the harder it is to see the side streets (alternative points of view) and the faster you go the harder it is to change course (your opinion).
So I guess my goals are to try to listen more, talk less, and to stop mentally coasting down hill.