Polarizing figures are, by definition, controversial.
People who are polarizing unite people, but they also tear people apart. Polarizing ideas stand for everything. But also stand for everything. Polar opposites are extreme.
I think society, on a macro level, discourages radical behavior.
It discourages you from being super different. From having wild ideas. From swimming upstream.
External pressures force you think like everyone else. It is really hard to have interesting ideas that many people would disagree with.
I do not think the goal should be to be a polarizing figure, but I think there are a lot of inefficiencies in the sense that we throw out ideas just because they are different, just because they are challenging, just because they are new.
I want to accept more radical ideas into my life – whether or not I agree with them I think welcoming these ideas is helpful.
Also published on Medium.