I come from a culture of skepticism, in the best possible way. I was brought up to, and later sought out friends and acquaintances who would also, question and test the things around me. Leaders? Question them. Institutions? Question them. Traditions? Question them. And then, from what you've learned and been able to intuit, form your own belief system over time.

Part of that is understanding that you might be wrong, and being able to change your mind. I think having a willingness to change your mind is a strength, like skyscrapers built to bend in the wind, or trees that twist and adapt to their environments as they grow. Rigid ideas tend to break.

Another part is not believing something because you're told to. I always find it a bit alienating when people don't, for example, like me criticizing the President (or the Prime Minister), as if it's somehow wrong or disrespectful to point out his shortcomings. I tend to disagree: I think that's what democracy requires us to do. My opinions don't put me in a pigeonhole box, and I don't think, really, anyone's do. We're all demographics of one.

I don't like ideological (or theological) tribes. I don't think they're useful for their participants, although I think they're very useful for people who are in positions of power within them. We can agree on things and disagree on other things, and we're all part of a larger tribe. If the Internet has shown us anything, it's that we are all connected, we are all different and we all the same - and all of us contribute to a much larger whole. We should celebrate diversity in ideas, goals, opinions, knowledge and skills, just as much as we should celebrate diversity in our physical traits, personalities, sexualities and backgrounds. Values are ideas; rigid values are fragile ones. They're narrow gene pools. I think we should question ourselves, and each other, often.