Don’t seek to affirm your beliefs and assumptions; evolve and challenge them.
Intellectually challenging friends or colleagues can stretch your thinking and keep you on your toes. You probably have a few less-intellectually challenging friends who think the same things as you and don’t challenge your thinking much. Expand your belief and knowledge sources to improve your critical thinking skills if you value their friendship.
Which kind of friend do you want to be? If you want to become smarter, don’t surround yourself with people who think like you. It sounds counterintuitive, but it’s true.
If you want to become more intelligent, make an effort to befriend people who challenge your beliefs, question your assumptions, and force you to defend your ideas.
These people will often challenge what you think, which will help you to become more open-minded and less prone to confirmation bias. They’ll also help you see the world from a different perspective, ultimately making you a better thinker and decision maker.
“I’ve seen that phenomenally successful people believe they can learn something from everybody. I call them ‘mavericks with mentors.’ Richard Branson, for instance, is a total maverick but he surrounds himself with incredibly successful, smart people and he listens to them,” says Brendon Burchard.
If you want to become smarter, stop thinking like everyone else.
People who bring something new to the table — even if it’s just a different perspective on an issue, force you to think. By learning from different people, you’ll become more well-rounded and capable of seeing the world from a wider perspective.
“Even the most analytical thinkers are predictably irrational; the really smart ones acknowledge and address their irrationalities,” argues Dan Ariely.
Getting smart is a process, not a destination. Beware of your analytical shortcomings and learn from people with rich perspectives.
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