Consider other viewpoints!

There are perhaps 20 or 25 TTRPG blogs I read regularly, and three among them stand out because of something unique I get out of them.

• One is the column of a well-established, respected and successful RPG advice blogger who I have only ever agreed with on the most simple and obvious matters. The majority of the writing recommends doing things in ways I would not consider, either because they are incompatible with my usual playstyles, or because the blogger says they will achieve goals which I do not want to achieve (because I'm confident that achieving them would make my play experience worse).

• Another is a blog containing articles largely about a range of game systems that I don't run or play, or playstyles I don't engage with. They're informative, interesting even, but not immediately useful.
  

• A third has elaborately-argued articles whose conclusions almost always rest partly on premises I think are false (or, again, just aren't applicable to my preferred playstyles). Just once or twice, I have agreed with all the starting axioms, and thereby received food for thought.

Obviously, the common link is that these are blogs within my sphere of interest which there is little obvious benefit to me reading.

So why bother?

It's not 'I hate your blog' masochism.

It's because any of these (kinds of) writer could change my mind about something at any time. I've been floored by various jaw-dropping revelations from writers who appeal better to my sensibilities – but those could be considered particularly loud echoes in my personal echo chamber. I think it would be strictly more impactful to experience a major insight by reading these bloggers' work, if it does happen.

And it's because I think it's mentally healthy to be well-read and well-rounded.

And it's because sometimes there is the germ of a transmissible idea, a spark which I can work with. You can get creative sparks anywhere, of course, but getting them from an unexpected source has, I think, a certain distinctive valence or flavour or quiddity or je nais se quoi.

And it's a useful little reminder that other people think differently and like different things and that that's fine.

And it's possible that I'll be persuaded, changed, diverted, and that's not something we should automatically close ourselves off from.

If you're going to try to find work you don't like to start reading, I recommend picking some that is, at base, well-written. Also, focus on writers who seem to have acquired a reasonably large audience and seem to be popular rather than notorious, so you can be more confident that they're not just a crank. (And if they have a large readership, many of their ideas will propagate, so you get the added benefit of being better able to follow the zeitgeist.)

Important caveat #1: Don't go overboard. We live in a world of endless opportunity costs, and life is short. Three viewpoints that seem irreconcilably antipodal to mine seems like a fine number for my main hobby; ten would certainly be too many.

Important caveat #2: There's no need to engage with people with genuinely objectionable views.

This is about TTRPGs, but I'd like to think that the same applies to all hobbies, and probably many other spheres of life.