So I’ve been thinking about this lately. I’m quoting this tweet as a springboard and by no means as a criticism of its author (and indeed, I’m not even sure I am critical of the obviously well-intended idea it contains—just musing about it). https://twitter.com/numbersmuncher/status/1318927310502887425

I studied and taught for a long time in a field that places emphatic value on exposing yourself to lots of views with which you disagree. I’m very glad I did, and absolutely think it’s valuable. There are, though, drawbacks in a non-academic setting— especially on Twitter.

I follow a lot of people with whom I disagree—often vehemently, often who hold views I find morally repugnant—for a collection of idiosyncratic reasons, but only a handful of those are *because* I disagree with them and want to open my mind.

I follow a few because I want to keep tabs on how some people with views opposed to mine are reacting and thinking, but not really to change my mind or even humanize those who hold such views. (I’m not anti-humanization, of course, but it isn’t a specific goal).

Before 2016, I used to seek out those who had different views from mine to open my mind, specifically conservatives. But I noticed something as 2016 approached. Almost every single conservative I followed wound up as anti-Trump. (Some were eventually anti-anti-Trump in the end.)

That suggested to me that I wasn’t following folks who genuinely represented other views, but rather those who differed from me in some ways and but resembled me in others.

I believe I see this dynamic also among conservatives as well, who tend to gravitate toward the views of certain folks on the left that they find amenable.

To the degree that following others is for the purpose of opening your mind, this seems like a good thing. We are all more persuaded by those with whom we share more values than by those with whom we share fewer.

I’ve gotten A LOT out of this site by following people with different experiences than mine (as opposed to views). Different locations, countries, careers, ages, races, genders, orientations, disability status, etc. This has been more apt to change my mind!

Bluntness is valued on Twitter, and seeing lots of blunt statements of that with which I thoroughly disagree that drive me even further away from those views.

There’s also a balance to struck. On one hand you want to have a decent amount of moral humility. On the other, some moral rectitude. Sometimes hanging around with folks who are immoral can rub off on you in a bad way (lots of ancient philosophers talk about this).

To sum up, I think I’ve come to believe exposing yourself to people with whom one disagrees can be an important good, but it’s by no means simply and straightforwardly good./