The Value of Challenging Views

Challenging views, especially our own, is a very cleansing experience and a good habit to have. There is an old Chinese saying that goes "only the very wise and the very foolish do not change." It's a very uncomfortable situation to be, but it is conducive to growth, since it's this evolution of views that allows us to attain a better understanding of things. And with the world changing so rapidly, it seems naive that whatever we hold as true now is going to remain valid in the future. After all, how many things do we know that are indeed timeless truths?

Challenging other people's views is a bit trickier though. People tend to be very defensive when it comes to the things they believe, especially if they have spend a lot of time studying them, or if they have experience using them. Yet, just because something works, it doesn't mean that it is optimal, or that there is nothing else that works, perhaps better.

There are times that I make a fool of myself by questioning certain views, especially in the scientific domain. Certain things are fine and do not need to be simplified or changed in general. But should this stop someone from questioning them? It's a fine line between being original and being an obnoxious person sometimes.

One of the reasons I like beBee is that it is congruent to this strategy of testing one's views against other people's views, without getting into heated discussions that escalate into flame wars. After all, if there one thing that the Internet has taught us is that it is great at magnifying people's hostility and rudeness. Fortunately, beBee seems to be a safe place for constructive debate still.

So what are your views on this matter? Is there merit in challenging views or am I full of it? What views of yours have you reconsidered lately?