Birds of a feather flock together… right? As human beings, we are naturally drawn to people who look and think like us, but limiting our friendships to a homogenized group of people reduces our ability to see the world in all of its richness and complexity. Our own lives become smaller and less rewarding as a result. 

“If we're only talking to the people that we like and that agree with us, that's going to be a problem for a healthy functioning democracy,” says host and NOT REAL ART publisher Scott “Sourdough” Power. In today’s podcast episode, Scott discusses the 10 friends we should surround ourselves with for richer, fuller, and more enlightened lives. “We all need friends who help us see the world differently. We all need friends who help us see the world more fully, more richly, more colorfully, more accurately, more realistically.”

From Democrats and polymaths to techno-geeks and Jesus freaks, Scott shares his thoughts on the 10 friends who will broaden your horizons: “Everybody needs at least one friend who's an artist because artists see the world in a very different way. They are empathetic seers that are able to see things we can't see.” 

He continues: “It’s a mosaic out there. It’s a beautiful spectrum of realities and truths out there. If we only talk to our tribe and we Balkanize and segregate into our echo chambers of biased opinions and prejudices, if we only are friends with people who see the world like us, we're destined to not be able to empathize or have compassion or respect for other people. We end up making the 'other’ the enemy. We end up reducing our ability to see the world in its fullness and its richness. Your life is going to be less than if you limit your friends to a very narrow homogenized group or sample of people, but if you can work towards having a diverse, eclectic group of friends, your life will be richer and more fulfilling.”

Tune into today’s episode to find out why your circle of friends should reflect the diversity of our world.

Key Points From This Episode:

• The importance of having a diverse group of friends.
• How our mobile phones have isolated us from those around us.
• Reasons that we should respect one another, despite our differences.
• Benefits of having friends that support different political parties.
• Ways that scientists can help us view the world differently.
• Why we need both engineers and artists in our lives.
• Friends who can help us take better care of our bodies and spirits.
• Potentially selfish motivations for having at least one tech-savvy friend!
• Why our friendship groups should reflect the beautiful, diverse world we live in.

For more information, please visit http://notrealart.com/ten-friends