Edit: Moved thread to this section because it fits within some of the principles of agnosticism and so its relevant to it.


Oftentimes, when people learn about something that has multiple sides to it, they'll rely on the side or go with whoever is already part of their group to learn about something. This is like Christians who have learned about homosexuality from Christian websites, or a Republican watching only Fox News to learn about an issue. The reasonable and/or fair thing to do is to do is to learn or listen to both sides, or just start with the basic science (if science applies) before getting into any one side. Knowing the views of both or all sides not only gives you a well-rounded understanding, but it would also help make it easier for you to formulate views that no one side can easily shoot down and that's because your argument factors in both sides.

Feel free to share your experience of listening to both sides. Any benefits? Any negatives?
 
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I honestly don't believe that a lot of people can stomach listening to both sides. As an example, how many people do you know that are willing to watch both Fox News and MSNBC?

I've done it, and I try to keep my judgements in check. I can see a lot of the spin, a lot of the fallacious thinking and propaganda. It's sickening some times, but I continue to do it because I want my views to be well-rounded, in the sense that it accounts for as many factors as possible. If an event happens that involves factors x,y,z, then offering an explanation that only accounts for x and y, could potentially mislead you (although some times it is done on purpose by media outlets when they only want certain details released!) and it would obviously leave a hole in your argument once someone brings up the missing detail.
 
I edited the thread title to "Factoring in both sides". Originally, it was "listening to both sides" but "factoring" involves not just listening but also trying to see how you can incorporate or use information from both or all sides.

I'm thinking that partisan politicans do the opposite when crafting a bill. They just write a bill, which only contains their views and plans, and think that will get passed. I would think that if someone is truly trying to work across the isle, then they would write the bill in the way to where both parties can work with it.