Read Something You Disagree With

Why This Ritual Matters

We live in an age of algorithmic echo chambers. Your social media feed shows you what you already believe. Your news sources confirm your existing worldview. Your book recommendations come from people who think like you. Without conscious effort, it’s possible to spend years consuming content that never genuinely challenges your assumptions.

This is intellectually dangerous. Not because your views are necessarily wrong — but because untested beliefs are fragile beliefs. Ideas that have never faced serious opposition remain shallow. They break under pressure. They fail to account for complexity.

Critical reading demands more. It requires the ability to engage with arguments you find uncomfortable, to understand positions you reject, and to follow reasoning even when it leads somewhere you don’t want to go. This isn’t about being a contrarian or abandoning your principles. It’s about holding your principles more deeply by understanding what they’re really up against.

Today’s ritual asks you to do something counterintuitive: seek out a perspective you disagree with, and read it with genuine curiosity instead of defensive judgment.

Today’s Practice

Find something to read that argues for a position you reject. This could be an opinion piece from a publication with different political leanings, a book chapter defending an idea you find flawed, or an essay advocating a lifestyle you wouldn’t choose. The key is that it must be something you genuinely disagree with — not just mildly uncomfortable, but substantively opposed to your current views.

Then read it differently than you normally would. Instead of hunting for errors to dismiss, read to understand. Ask yourself: What would I need to believe for this argument to make sense? What experiences might lead someone to this conclusion? What is the strongest version of this position?

You’re not reading to be convinced. You’re reading to comprehend. And comprehension, done well, changes you — even when your conclusion remains the same.

How to Practice

1. Identify a topic where you have strong views. Politics, economics, parenting, education, technology, religion — anything where you feel confident in your position.
2. Find a thoughtful opposing argument. Don’t pick the weakest version or the most extreme take. Look for something written by someone who clearly takes their own position seriously.
3. Read slowly and charitably. When you catch yourself thinking “that’s ridiculous,” pause. Ask: “What am I missing? Why might a reasonable person believe this?”
4. Steelman the argument. After reading, try to articulate the author’s position in the strongest possible terms — even stronger than they stated it.
5. Reflect on what you learned. Did you understand something new? Did your own position shift, deepen, or clarify?

What to Notice

Pay attention to your physical reactions as you read. Tight jaw? Clenched fists? These are signals that your brain has entered “defend mode” rather than “understand mode.” When you notice these reactions, consciously relax and return to curiosity.

Notice where the author makes points you can’t easily dismiss. These moments are gold. They reveal either genuine weaknesses in your position or aspects of the issue you hadn’t fully considered. Don’t rush past them — sit with the discomfort and explore it.

Finally, notice your assumptions about the author. Are you attributing malicious intent, stupidity, or bad faith? This is often a defense mechanism. Most people who hold views you disagree with are neither evil nor idiotic — they’ve simply had different experiences, data, or values. Recognizing this doesn’t mean agreeing with them; it means understanding them as full human beings rather than caricatures.

The Science Behind It

Psychologists have extensively studied confirmation bias — our tendency to seek, interpret, and remember information that confirms our existing beliefs. This bias is deeply wired; it exists across cultures, education levels, and intelligence levels. Even experts in reasoning aren’t immune.

But research also shows that deliberate practice can reduce its effects. When people are trained to actively consider opposing viewpoints, they make better predictions, form more nuanced judgments, and become more resistant to manipulation. This is sometimes called “debiasing through consideration of alternatives.”

There’s also evidence from integrative complexity research — the study of how people think about complex issues. High integrative complexity involves recognizing multiple valid perspectives and understanding the relationships between them. Studies have found that leaders who demonstrate high integrative complexity make better decisions under pressure. Critical reading is one of the primary ways to develop this capacity.

Connection to Your Reading Journey

This is Day 12 of 365, and it sits at the heart of January’s “Unfamiliar Paths” week. The theme of this month is Curiosity — and nothing tests curiosity quite like encountering ideas you instinctively resist. Can you remain curious even when everything in you wants to close down and argue back?

For those preparing for competitive exams like CAT, GRE, or GMAT, this ritual has immediate practical value. These exams frequently present passages arguing for positions you may personally reject — a defense of controversial economic policies, a critique of cherished cultural practices, an argument for counterintuitive scientific claims. Students who can’t read past their own disagreement struggle to answer comprehension questions objectively. They project their own views onto the passage instead of analyzing what’s actually there.

Developing the capacity for critical reading across the opinion spectrum makes you a sharper, more adaptable reader — and a clearer thinker in every domain of life.