It's tough to learn if you only listen to people you agree with ~Mike Siegel
Mike's writings: http://mikes.im/
Hunter Powers: Welcome to the ONE. I'm your host, Hunter Powers, broadcasting live from our nation's capital, D.C. proper, Washington, D.C. And today's ONE idea is, "It's tough to learn if you only listen to people you agree with." This quote comes from Mike Siegel, a product manager, a software engineer, and sometimes a writer you can find on Mikes.im. I've worked with Mike across a couple of different companies. And I don't remember the exact moment he said this, but it made me stop and write it down. And today we will examine it, that it's tough to learn if you only listen to people you agree with. What does it mean, do we agree with it, and how can we use it?
Hunter Powers: One more time. "It's tough to learn if you only listen to people you agree with." The suggestion here is that if you actually want to learn, which I believe is a proxy for grow, you're going to have to look for people who have knowledge that is different than yours. And if you limit that growth to only people that think exactly like you do, it's going to be really tough to learn. And we certainly exist in an age right now where there's a great dichotomy of thought. People are polarized. No matter what side you are on, there are ideas that you are not supposed to consider. No, no, no. We don't go there.
Hunter Powers: Now, arguably, this is good if you're trying to maintain a point of view, if you're trying to maintain a side, only listen to people that you agree with. But if you want to learn, if you want to truly understand, (note that truly understand does not mean agree), but if you want to truly understand, you're going to have to listen to people that you don't agree with. You're going to have to go outside that comfort and find the ideas that push against your basis, or at a minimum be open to it. When you go to learn something new, when you go to grow, if you start with a foundation that I'm only going to follow this so long as I agree with every idea that builds upon another, then you really are limiting yourself and you really are limiting the possibilities.
Hunter Powers: Now this could be a hack. You could say, I'm going to limit the possibilities because I really don't want to explore this idea to its fullest potential. I understand that I am exploring this narrow part of an idea because that's all I need right now, and I'm going to get there faster by only interacting with ideas and concepts that I agree with. But it's tough to learn if you only listen to people you agree with.
Hunter Powers: So what's the opposite? Listening to people that you only agree with is usually referred to as an echo chamber. You're listening to people that are just amplifying what you already think, solidifying that base, whatever it may be. I don't necessarily have a problem with echo chambers. I think they have utility. They have utility from an idea amplification standpoint. If there's some seed of an idea in someone or in yourself, and you want to make it stronger, surround it in an echo chamber, it really does amplify it.
Hunter Powers: Or perhaps you're just looking for pure fun, pure entertainment. An echo chamber is often an excellent place to reliably find it. There are limits because it's all only ideas that you already agree with, but there's probably a reason you already agree with those ideas. And so perhaps you go on social media to be surrounded by things you already like and be recommended more things that are in line with that, that's fine. But the insight is to understand that that's not learning. That's not how you learn. That's not how you grow. That's how you amplify what you already have. And so as long as you're limiting the growth to that part, fine. But it's tough. It's tough to learn if you only listen to people you agree with.
Hunter Powers: Another use of this idea is when people are pushing back at considering other options. They don't want to talk about certain areas. "I'm not going there." This idea forces them to confront their bias. And by the way, we all have bias, and I don't even necessarily think there's something inherently wrong with bias. We need some degree of bias in order to get through our days. Why did you cross the street when the walk signal turned white? Well, because you have a bias for your survival, and it seems like cars have a bias for not running through that intersection when the walk signal is white. Bias tends to have an only negative connotation, but there are certainly good biases.
Hunter Powers: But if you want to confront someone on their bias, and you want to try to figure out how you open them up to considering other opportunities, other options, this statement works. There's value here. Try it out. The next time someone is just wholly dismissing something, respond, "It's tough to learn if you only listen to people you agree with." At least that's what Mike Siegel said, and I do believe I agree with this one.
Hunter Powers: And that is your ONE idea for today. Once again, I am Hunter Powers, broadcasting live from our nation's capital, as we call it in the city, D.C. proper. As you know it, Washington D. C. Until next time.