Many people do not like having their beliefs and ideas challenged by others, but it is a crucial element in conversation. Having the willingness to be disturbed means having an open mind because it allows others to question or challenge one’s beliefs in order to learn more. It is important to not only believe in one’s beliefs but also be willing to stay curious and listen to others’ beliefs as well. This way, one may learn about things they never knew before. Margaret J. Wheatley, president of the Berkana Institute in Utah, addressed this element in conversation in her essay, “Some Friends and I Started Talking: Conversation and Social Change.” I had my beliefs challenged once on the subject of illegal immigrants where I supported immigrants
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What Wheatley means to say is that sometimes it is good to let go of one’s beliefs for a moment and try to understand things from another point of view. In other words, I willingly put aside my beliefs about undocumented immigrants and listened to my peers’ perspectives. They contended that undocumented immigrants result in an increase of terrorism and crimes. Although not all of them are terrorists or bad people, there are still some who come to America to wreak havoc and commit serious crimes. Furthermore, there are reports showing that majority of cases of crimes are related to illegal immigrants. Other reasons my classmates pointed out was that illegal immigrants cost money for the government, they supposedly take jobs from Americans, and they add to the population, resulting in overcrowding in many places such as public transportation. These are all appropriate and valid beliefs, and I can understand why some of my classmates would be against my beliefs about illegal immigrants. Still, I learned more things about illegal immigrants that I did not know before. I never thought about them taking jobs away from Americans. However, after listening carefully to what my classmates thought about illegal immigrants, it made me want to defend my beliefs about them even
What Wheatley means to say is that sometimes it is good to let go of one’s beliefs for a moment and try to understand things from another point of view. In other words, I willingly put aside my beliefs about undocumented immigrants and listened to my peers’ perspectives. They contended that undocumented immigrants result in an increase of terrorism and crimes. Although not all of them are terrorists or bad people, there are still some who come to America to wreak havoc and commit serious crimes. Furthermore, there are reports showing that majority of cases of crimes are related to illegal immigrants. Other reasons my classmates pointed out was that illegal immigrants cost money for the government, they supposedly take jobs from Americans, and they add to the population, resulting in overcrowding in many places such as public transportation. These are all appropriate and valid beliefs, and I can understand why some of my classmates would be against my beliefs about illegal immigrants. Still, I learned more things about illegal immigrants that I did not know before. I never thought about them taking jobs away from Americans. However, after listening carefully to what my classmates thought about illegal immigrants, it made me want to defend my beliefs about them even