[Coda]

Mediation, debate, and report-writing. I don't have any formal training in mediation, but I've had various role models who have mentored me growing up on how to deal with conflicts and how to help someone even when you disagree. I do have formal training in debate and report-writing; in debate, one of the best things you can do to learn objectivity is to be required to defend the viewpoint you yourself don't hold, and when writing reports your job is to analyze the facts objectively.

The key to going beyond having these as academic skills is to realize that they're not just academic skills, and the objectivity you learn from these exercises can be applied to interpersonal skills as well as academic tasks.

Unfortunately, taking that step requires being able to ignore your own beliefs temporarily in order to understand the opposing viewpoint. This kind of ego suppression isn't something a lot of people are able to do, and the more important a topic is to someone, the harder it is to deny the ego.