“We can only improve ourselves in times such as these by walking backwards, by discord not by harmony, by being different not by being like.” Socrates described himself as both a midwife to ideas and as a gadfly, a pest who prevented people from latching too easily to lazy thoughts. In our times, people are hired with the expressed purpose of defusing conflicts, getting people to stop yelling at each other and learning how to respect others’ opinions.
This is a necessary public service. But we need to do more. In addition to learning how to value others’ opinions, we should acquire some disrespect for our own. We should be open to asking others their thoughts and let them pick apart the weaknesses in our reason. Only then, when we lose ownership of our most precious internal possessions, are we capable of crafting seaworthy vessels.
So debate, engage in Socratic dialogues, have lively dinner conversations. But always place as much skepticism around your own thoughts as you apply to others. And then, instead of fighting as long as it takes to achieve some kind of victory or exhaustion, realize that the greatest gift you can take from such encounters is to be proven wrong. Having your mind changed is one of life’s greatest experiences.