Deliberate Dissent Feed
Follow thoughtful disagreement to test what your preferred information omits
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Time to result
- ~ongoing to results
- Steps
- 5
- Confidence
- 88%
Adesanya says he intentionally follows some people whose views he does not share so he can hear another side and avoid surrounding himself only with agreement. The reusable mechanism is to treat the information feed as an input system: identify where it is one-sided, add a thoughtful dissenting source, understand the source's reasoning, and test whether any part exposes a weakness in the current view. The goal is not automatic compromise or the assumption that every claim is equally valid. It is resistance to confirmation bias and social conformity. A useful dissent feed should improve the quality of evidence and reasoning, not reward outrage, harassment, or unsupported claims. The final step is selective updating: keep the original view, revise it, or suspend judgement according to what the evidence supports.
Origin
Extracted from The Diary of a CEO
Core principles
- 01Agreement alone produces an incomplete information diet
- 02Understanding an opposing view does not require adopting it
- 03Discomfort can reveal an assumption worth testing
- 04Different ideas are not automatically moral or factual equivalents
How to run it
- 1
Audit the feed
Choose a topic and note whether nearly every source you consume reaches the same conclusion.
Pro tip Start with a topic that affects a real decision.
- 2
Add credible dissent
Select a source that disagrees but presents reasons or evidence rather than abuse or pure provocation.
Pro tip Prefer someone capable of describing the opposing position fairly.
Watch out Diversity of opinion does not make unsupported claims reliable.
- 3
Understand before judging
Summarize the dissenting argument accurately enough that its proponent would recognize it.
Watch out Do not confuse understanding with endorsement.
- 4
Test your assumptions
Identify which evidence, premise, or trade-off genuinely challenges your current position.
Pro tip Write down the strongest challenge instead of reacting in the feed.
- 5
Update selectively
Change only the parts of your view that the stronger evidence warrants, and leave unresolved questions open.
Watch out Do not manufacture a middle position when one side is better supported.
In the wild
Adesanya says he follows people on Instagram whom he does not necessarily agree with because he wants awareness of another side. He notes that some posts make him uncomfortable while still containing a point he considers valid.
→ His feed includes ideas beyond those that simply confirm what he already wants to hear.
Common mistakes
Following outrage instead of dissent
A source that only provokes may widen emotional exposure without improving evidence or understanding.
Assuming both sides are equal
Seeking another view does not require treating weak evidence as equivalent to strong evidence.
Is it for you?
Best for
People using social media or podcasts to think through contested subjects and consequential decisions.
Not ideal for
Giving harmful misinformation equal weight with credible evidence or consuming antagonistic content that undermines wellbeing.
From the transcript
“I follow certain people on Instagram that I don't necessarily agree with.”
“I don't want to be surrounded by yes men.”
From the episode
Israel Adesanya: Becoming World Champion Was The Lowest Day Of My Life