We can usually learn much more from people whose views we share than from people whose views contradict our own.Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the statement and explain your reasoning for the position

The author asserts that a person can learn much more from a person with similar views rather than from someone with contrasting views. We learn at every stage in our life since our birth. Learning is a process where we increase our knowledge by gathering an information earlier unknown. Hence if we take this definition of learning into considertaion, than the author's claim stands refutable.

In scientific discoveries, there has always been opposing judgements related to a phenomenon or theory. For example, the discovery of 'heliocentrism' aspect of our universe. Before this discovery, it was considered that the earth is the centre of our universe, until Galileo proposed a contradictory theory, according to which sun is centre of our universe, and consequently the older theory was debunked. Hence many a times, when our opinions are tenuous and needs correction, opposing views assist us in rectifying the fallacies and strengthen our judgement.

Further, when two people with differing opinions debate their judgement, each person learns something new from the other. In any field, debates and meetings are held before arriving at a decision. This is one of the most prevailing method of arriving at a conclusion. The primary reason of conducting such meetings that disparate views of each person are brought into notice and anaylze before a decision is made. In this whole process, each person learns something new from the other and enhance their understanding of a concept. Many a times something which has been overlooked by one can be learned from someone with a more penetrating insight. Hence disparate views helps a person learn more by filling any gaps or by supplementing it with additional information.

However, sometimes similar views help in bolstering a person's judgement, but they don't help in providing new knowledge. Two people fighting for a cause usually share same views due to similar interest. Hence when faced with any opposition or contradiction, they provide support to each other in refuting other's person ideas. But in this whole process, no new learning takes place.

Summing up, in most situations, the chances of enhancing one's knowledge is more when the other person's ideas contradict our own rather than being similar. As opposing views provide a new outlook towards a concept under scrutiny, they help us looking at something in a more broader perspective.