Because of what has been going on in politics for a while it’s very important to be a critical, independent thinker. To think for yourself. To form your own ideals, ideas and opinions. Arguments because people don’t agree on politics are futile and a waste of time. I don’t believe everything I hear or read from anywhere. Neither should you. Hearsay, rumors, gossip, propaganda are all just that. None of it is based in fact. Zero. You have to look at the empirical evidence. Being a critical, independent thinker is healthy. It helps us age better and release less cortisol: that fight or flight hormone. There’s a lot of that swirling around these days. Cortisol makes radical changes in our bodies. Those radical changes aren’t always good. It’s good when we’re trying to escape an oncoming car or a bear in the woods. But in the long run on a day-to-day or hour by hour basis it’s not healthy. We all have our biases. Formed from years of interactions, experiences and, well, life. Information and facts are power! Unless a situation is so egregious is there really a need to engage? Is defending our “opinion“ worth the arguments, attacks, and verbal or physical violence? I don’t think so. Scratch that, I know it’s not. I believe. In agree to disagree, dialogue, plus not everyone has to see eye-to-eye. That’s what makes life so interesting. But how we handle that is an entirely different matter.