"We can usually learn much more from people whose views we share than from people whose views contradict our own; disagreement can cause stress and inhibit learning."
...h case people are trying to concentrate and getting as much as possible. So in my view discussion always gives us some information and it is one of the major process of learning. Now take the first case, the point of agreement. We agree with the people and share our view and of course we learn much more from this type of discussion. Second case when we disagree. It is actually the case of true discussion where people are contradicting on certain point and so discussing their views on some topic. People participating in discussion may be agree on certain points but disagree on some points and disagreement is the cause of discussion. Now if discussion is healthy one and participant are open to new ideas then it is fruitful and will result in some conclusion. But if participants are rebellious and severely contradict each other then it is futile and result in bitterness in relation. So the question is not the sharing view or contradicting each other but the attitude of participants. Take the example of political discussion, if the issue of discussion is related to the image of political party, they will try to defend or oppose the issue and any cost. This type of situation is very prevalent during election time when leaders of much political party are invited for some talk show. Now here leaders are not learning anything from each other but they are either saving their image or blaming others. But when they are invited to discuss some social problem, which is of general concern, they are open to ne...