We can learn much more from people whose views we share than from people whose views contradict our own.
As a instinct of human beings, people would tend mostly to prefer things that are similar to themselves to those that are distinct from themselves. As a result, similar views would be more popular than differentiated views among human beings. Therefore, people would like to learn-and would learn more-from others whose views they share rather those whose views contradict their own.
To begin with, people would like to learn from those whose views that they share out of human instinct. As a human nature, similar ideas and opinions would bring people to pay more attention to others that they would think are alike to themselves. Consequently, a preference to the other aspects of these "comrades" would be produced, as well as an illusion of "we are the same kind of people". My personal experience would be a vivid example. Two years ago, I held a small debate group that practiced frequently. From my observation, those team members who share the same position in the first practice appeared to cooperate with each other more often than with those whose position was contradicted. Also, these people liked to discuss and study with their "comrades", and took progress together. I myself, too, is one of these "comrades". I found myself prefer to learn from my partners in the same position, only in those aspects that we share similarity, but also in those aspects that he or she is superior to or even different from mine. Moreover, I would prefer to accept the advises from my "comrades" rather than those from people in the opposite position. Hence, it is a fact that people would like to learn from those that share similar views with themselves.
What's more, when people have contradict opinions with others, they would often hold unconsciously biased point of view in the process of communication and interaction. When encountering people from alien cultural background or disparat things, human beings would be inclined to have a discrimination at the beginning; then this discrimation would be carried on and influence people's points of view to some extend. For this reason, human beings are reluctant to understand others from different groups, not to mention learning from them. Take the contradicted position between the Whites and Negroes. From the time that Negroes were purchased as stuffs by white people, they were unfairly discriminated against, considered as a underdeveloped race. Although there were several advocations for the equal social status and freedom of Negroes, discrimination still exists in the modern society. There are still places in the white people's heart that posess the unwillingness of understanding and learning from the culture of Negroes. This human nature might seems disappointed and frustrated, but it is rooted in our mind as early as thousands of years ago.
However, although human beings could learn more from those that share similar views than those hold contradicted opinions, it would be irrational and unreasonable for us to following blindly to this human nature. For the fact that similar views points do not indicate truth, dissimilar ideas do not mean false, and for most things in the world there are not fixed right or wrong, it would better ourselves if we could take a critical, rational, comprehensive, and objective position when communicating and interacting with others, whatever their view points are the same with or distinct from ours. Only in this way could we learn from others selectively and purposefully, wash out the dross and keep the essence.
In conclusion, what people should pay attention to is not the how the stands of others alike or different with their own, or even whether the ideas are right or wrong; instead, what requires attention is how to be more critical and object when exchanging ideas with others.