Like minded people

A month or so ago, I either heard or read something that said the newer generation will mostly never hang out with people of opposing views, be it political or religious. That's fine and dandy, but I personally find befriending people of differing views to be enlightening, and it helps me grow as an individual. Do you guys hermit to likeminded people?

The newer generation won't hang out with people because they're glued to their screens, watching tikkitokko? I'm sure i heard that in a video i watched recently. The video is titled, "How did America become so stupid".

Do i hermit to likeminded people? Mh, yes, maybe, i don't think so, no.

@palasta: A lot of my younger co-workers are glued to their phones and use TikTok. LOL. I do think it's important to stay in community with like-minded people, but to say you won't hang out with anyone who doesn't subscribe to your own personal convictions sounds like a missed opportunity to me, personally. :)

I have friends with different views and I don't care as long as we care about each other and have fun together.

I know some people who are not willing to set aside differences though and it sucks to see that. Why not focus on what we have in common and can share together?

But part of being young is figuring out what you care about, being young you can be very idealistic and passionate. That's natural.

It doesn't really worry me too much, young people are figuring out who they are and what's important to them.

You don't get to pick who's your neighbor. As young people get older and see that we all go to a job and cooperate together no matter what walk of life you come from, everyone is trying to go about their daily lives, people see what they have in common as they go through it all together.

I think at that point it will settle in that to survive in this world you become pragmatic. At that point you also see that people go through changes, and you can vary your own beliefs and change them as you learn more and can be exposed to more. People they didn't agree with before, maybe they can find more common ground now. You can also find that you can disagree with your younger self and wish you could go back in the past and explain or give advice.

In the end I'm sure people eventually find they can't just condemn someone and dismiss them entirely because it's very short sighted. Even if you completely "hate" someone from your point of view, there is always change, growth, learning, redemption, etc.

If someone is actively f***ing with you then I can see not wanting to associate with them, but just disagreeing with someone doesn't seem like a good reason to dismiss a person entirely, and that it's destructive and limits yourself to do that to others. As people mature that is one of the things they learn.

For young people I think that being with like minded people is natural. You still find that you don't agree with everything within that group though and differences are everywhere. And you'll be forced to live with people you disagree with no matter how granular you get with the people you associate with.

Still gonna meet people with different views in school and work.

@girlusocrazy: You got the situation pretty well figured out. Folks on the internet are on a constant watch for something to be breathlessly concerned about, and "the kids" are an easy target. I do think smartphones are hindering their social skills a bit, but it's overblown. There's good and bad too it, the internet will always try to remind you about the bad.

Just remember folks, you are not the first old person to worry about kids these days.

@judaspete: Yeah. Maybe old people get scared because they see they don't have as much influence anymore, they get scared by people who are strong and capable doing things they wouldn't do from their experience and point of view and they can't do anything about it. That seems a bit natural too.

But it's all been done, the pendulum swings this way, next it will swing that way, whatever. Life goes on.

And the internet might change too, people could get tired of being fixated on all that and move on.

Sometimes a moment can seem so strong that you don't think outside of it, and then the moment passes.

Oh, for sure. Some of my favorite conversations are in my group from college which has:

Religion: atheists, agnostics, Protestants, Catholics, one Jew, and 3 young earth creationists

Political: Democrats, Republicans, a few hard core Libertarians, and an anarchist

Class: ranging from a household income of 30k a year to almost half a million a year. One of them makes pretty good money but comes from a family that never topped 6k a year.

Social: rural, urban, straight, gay, trans (fully transitioned), family heads, single, grew up in the states, came from other countries

This is a group I love to speak with, and one in which I prefer listening to talking myself. This is how you gain experiences broader than your own.

Diversity is the spice of life, as they say, and I will hang out with people specifically because they are not "like-minded" relative to myself.

I'm 40 years old so I'm not part of the "young" group any more though, but even so, I wouldn't trust a poll farther than I could throw it.

There are certain lines in the sand that need to be drawn--I won't hang out with racists, and there's certain extremes I will distance myself from, but for the most part as long as you don't start shit I won't take issue with your views. If you can discuss them calmly and in a speaking voice (so many people get agitated and loud these days!) I will even entertain some things I really find run contrary to myself.

I absolutely love opposite-minded folks and equally communicating with them. I mean I married someone completely opposite to me... although she is slowly converting... slowly...

Plus its healthy to step outside your "box" -- I have friends outside my profession and outside my "views" because its important to have different perspectives. Plus... it makes games like Cards Against Humanity and drinking that much more fun.