Only if I can suck on yours as well fam . No homo obviously . <| sep |> Usually several years when it ' s nothing that happens anymore . Best example to explain it for me would be a few years after MTVVH 1 stopped playing music videos the majority of the time and went to a reality TV format . <| sep |> Surprisingly the change was I joined the Army . In the army I was surrounded by very staunch Republicans , but it was very different than living back home . There was actually some pretty decent discussion going on . I was also being trained to think critically by my Squad Leader and Platoon leader . There is a very popular myth that they don ' t want you to think in the Military . That isn ' t true , it isn ' t even close to true . The don ' t think thing only really applies to in the heat of battle . They want you to move and act as one unit with your platoon leader controlling it . If an order comes down to flank on the left then you flank on the left . There isn ' t a lot of time to debate actions and a platoon leader has to trust that his squad leader and soldiers are doing what they are told . But this whole time we are learning , if you are open and willing to learn , how to take in information , process it , and figure out what it means to you . This is very useful for soldiers and junior leaders to develop . So that , in the absence of direction , they can still think and act in a way that supports the mission . Also , so you can pass valid recommendations up to your superiors . Let ' s take a look at the previous flank left order . Let ' s say after about 100 meters of travel into your flanking maneuver you get hit with a large volume of machine gun and RPG fire . You can ' t just retreat back and say we tried . Your platoon is currently trying to support your maneuver and needs you to accomplish your mission . So by quickly analyzing the battlefield you could come up with a plan of action to help you accomplish the overall mission . You might radio your PL and say something like pinned down by heavy machine gun and RPG fire . I recommend we set up a base of fire while you flank right . Anyways , I ' m getting off track . As I got used to analyzing information and thinking about it I started applying it to everyday life . One aspect of that was politics . I realized that at my core my beliefs were more liberal . I also started to see how two different news organizations could write a story about the same event but paint it in a very different light . So that made me realize that I had to do more research to figure out what way I should vote , or I had to try to see the data behind the story that was written . Sorry if this rambles a little or doesn ' t make much sense . I had a long day and had a few beers .