| #1 (permalink) Wed Jul 30, 2008 0:09 am GRE essay: We can usually learn much more from people whose views we share...
|"We can usually learn much more from people whose views we share than people whose views contradict our own; disagreement can cause stress and inhibit learning"
The world is made of diversity. A jasmine flower though a flower differs from a sunflower in appearance and color. A cactus plant differs from a bougainvillea .A mammal is different from an egg-laying animal. Humans are created with the specialty of having the capability to think. This specialty has led to the diversity in human thoughts in this diverse world. This difference of opinion has given rise to the different established religions, culture, schools of thoughts , the ways in which the existing states are running ; whether it is capitalist or socialist. Here the general opinion runs the affairs of the state but when it comes to deal with person to person the difference of opinion in a society does really matter.
We deal with different people in our day to day life. If one is living in an environment where everyone is doing the same thing, living in exactly the same manner, then this will go on and on from generation to generation; the new generation always following the beaten path would never get a chance to explore themselves. They even would not know their own capabilities ; they would never know what they can do better from what they are doing now. If they were living in a society where different people had different experiences, they will learn from those experiences and would then decide whish the best way is.
The famous saying the only source of knowledge is experience by Albert Einstein also reveals the same point. Now suppose that you have a good experience ; This means that things went as you were thinking because you acted what your mind thought to be right and you got a favorable result .Now take another instance when you had a bad experience which means that things did not go as you thought .In the first case u just learned that your thought was right , or in other words you just got an approval but in the latter case you learnt something new; a different point of view and you start thinking from a different perspective. And it is also true that a man learns from his mistakes , because they leave a lasting effect of the loss one encounters. The difference of opinion therefore leads you to learn more than the situation when there is no difference of opinion.
One such example is the development in the field of science. The critical question Why? in the most critical way is the secret to the development that science has reached up to now. Science is based on logic, and the fundamental principle of logic is to take a case critically; why this happened? If this is not true then what is the converse that is true and then examining the converse critically with different perspectives.
Consider the case when you are discussing a problem with a group of people . Now if all of them have the same opinion as yours then you will never know the other side of the matter. There is always a bright side and a dark side of a matter and there are many perspectives from where a single issue can be seen. Had there been no difference of opinions , you would always live in your own fools paradise thinking yourself to be always right and never knowing the other side of the matter. The different points of views are the different facts that one must take into account before deciding a particular solution to a problem so that the best solution be reached.
It is true that disagreement can lead to stress but that stress on ones mind will prove to be a positive one in the sense that it leads one to think deeply from others perspectives and to judge where one stands ; whether he or she is on the correct stance .
Hence , people having the same opinion as ours may appear polite and pleasant to us but they may not lead us to learn more while having a discussion .On the other hand, disagreement may turn into a heated debate but it always leads one to learn something new from others experiences and points of views .Hence it enhances ones pace of learning and does not inhibits it.
Joined: 29 Jul 2008