As odd as it may be, the thing I miss most about the academic side of college is the debating of my political science and philosophy classes. Being able to look across the room or across the row, or even up to the front of the room at someone who does not agree with you, and probably never will, but that will sensibly* argue with you until one of you has poked so many holes in the other's line of reasoning that there is nothing left to debate. I particularly enjoyed playing devil's advocate in class. I often times had my own view of things, but found immense joy in doing whatever I could to counter the logic and reasoning of my classmates to show them they were wrong. Rarely did I ever put forth my own opinions and theories unless I had ample and seemingly foolproof arguments to back it up. And even then I didn't like to tip my hand to show how I really felt. I just enjoyed listening to and partaking in the intelligent discussion of ideas and theories and the passion that people had for what they believed in. Everyone had access to the same information and everyone was pretty much on the same level of logical reasoning skills. It always made for an exciting time.
This, unfortunately, is much harder to do outside of the world of academia. People's access to information and their desire to know what they are stating as arguments is actually true is not the same. Most people seem to have no fear that they might be wrong and thus double check information before they make claims. Most people are not open to new ideas, new lines of reasoning, new points of view on things they have set their minds on believing. It seems most people can't keep their passion for their ideas separate from their own emotions. Anything critical or in conflict must be eradicated or ignored and taken as a personal attack. Intelligent discussions become limited. Even those capable of having them avoid them for fear of offending someone. So, instead, they gossip and I just keep to myself.
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