More on RSS Feeds: Read Diverse Material and Think Critically

I had a busy weekend visiting Eric's family out in Ortonville, MN. Yesterday's agenda included a job interview in Hopkins, a monstrous afternoon nap (I really need to get a job) and an evening workout at the community center.

Today I woke up with purpose; I was going to take Mesquite, my dog, out for a bike ride. I was going to go for a run, clean the kitchen, and organize my Taekwondo notebook. I was going to get stuff DONE.

With my plan solidifying itself in my mind, I let the dogs out and started the coffee maker. And then it started raining. Raining hard.

Well, what better thing to do during a morning deluge than catch up on Google Reader?

I came across this post while reading this morning. The post is from the Freakonomics blog by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner. It's really just a short, simple blurb that points out some newly published climate research and illustrates the difficulty of predicting the behavior of complex systems. I'm generally quite concerned about the way our species treats the environment, and global climate trends concern me. Which is partly why I found this Freakonomics post so intriguing; it gave me pause. It reminded me that keeping one's opinions open to the influence of new evidence is extremely important.

For the record, I'm still of the opinion that human activity contributes to climate change - one blog post isn't enough to change my stance on the issue. The point I want to make is actually about RSS feed readers. Had it not been for my Freakonomics feed, I would probably never have encountered this information, and I therefore would not have been able to consider it in my thinking on climate science.

Feed readers are fantastic because you can set them up and then simply let them work, but you're not really maximizing your reader's effectiveness if you only subscribe to publications that support your current beliefs and sensibilities. Seeking out views in opposition to your own is essential for critical thinking, which is in turn necessary for real learning and personal growth.