Listening and thinking

These are things you learn very well when you don't have words to speak and barely understand what is being said.
You listen, and think.
And I've noticed that three months of this changes not only the way I interact and discuss, it changes my way of thinking and opens my mind.
And I think this is rather amazing.

I consider it a social skill to be able to listen to someone saying something that I would usually just beat down as "bullshit". Not only swallow down my actual words, but also temporally bring down the mental wall and actually listening, for real. Seeing all the sides of a subject, not only the ones I've considered bad, but also the good sides and then selectively build up my mental walls again.
I might be very out of there of me to conclude anything from only my own experience, but guess what?
It costs. It costs you mental energy, and alot of it. You can actually feel how you get more and more mentally drained.
The other day, I read that when you think very intensively, the brain uses up to 50% of the oxygen and nutrients. Wether this is true or not I cannot be sure about, but it seems very legit.

Why all this deep-ish jabbering, you might wonder? Well, I had one of these moments of braindigging discussions about a week ago. And I actually needed to hibernate mentally afterwards. About 4 days. Mind more of less completely blank except the subject discussed. To the point where my family got a little concerned, because they thought I was totally silent because I was depressed. And guess what? I still don't have the subject figured out... It kind of impacted hard on my worldview and I'm not sure if I'm okay with that. My scientific way of explaining things all of a sudden did not completely add up. Well darn. That will probably be a topic for further discussion.

Other things I think many people could consider: don't argue topics you don't really have a clue about just because you want to seem clever. If you have the facts, go ahead. And don't discuss if you aren't open to change your view. When you close your mind, you don't discuss anymore, you're just trying to convince others why you are right.
Guess what? Sometimes it does not work.... As an evolutionist who has been in discussion with creationists... I have first hand experience on this subject.

And when you don't really have anything to say it's mostly better to stay silent.

Just some reflections from an exchange student. Take care.