Hi, Jane - excellent post where you focus on what may be one of the most critical thinking skills of our times.

You have built a strong case for avoiding the tendency to move away from disagreement and even conflict by learning to live with and learn from those who believe differently.

I immediately thought of the current partisan divisions that exist in our political, cultural, and social arenas.    We are growing apart, rather than coming together, and we are our own worst enemies in this regard.  We hunker down and only engage with those who believe as we do, who share our beliefs and assumptions about right and wrong, good and bad, and so forth.

This is one of the most powerful enemies of the ability to think critically.  We have to be able to consider different points of view and come to our own well-researched and thought-out position, rather than simply adopt a POV and isolate ourselves from further reflection.

Your points, links, and quotes are all great and I am stealing them without a second thought.  In payment, I'll add this quotation to the discussion:

"The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposing ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function." (F. Scott Fitzgeral).

While we now have a different understanding of both intelligence and thinking, Fitzgerald correctly notes the importance of considering more than one point of view.

Of course, to actively and objectively seek out and reflect on different ways to think about a thing is hard work and has been known to give some folks headaches.   This may be related to muscle pain when you start exercising again after a long layoff:)

Loved this post - will share and may comment further on it:)

John