Before moving to Seattle for graduate school, I had lived my entire life in hot climates. The humidity and omnipresence of mosquitoes in Taiwan suffocated me as a kid, but I eventually embraced the heat and learned to relish in it. In New Mexico, where I spent the majority of my life, temperatures would sometimes climb past 105 degrees Fahrenheit, and both fauna and flora seemed nonexistent under the scorching sun of the Chihuahuan Desert.
But I loved it.
I must have been an anomaly in how much I enjoyed the heat. Though my car would sometimes be well over 110 degrees, I would enjoy driving with my windows rolled up and the air conditioning off (this usually prompted complaints from other passengers in the car, after which I would unwillingly turn on the air conditioning).
I found the heat waves coming off of cars comforting and was excited by when I would see transient mirages on roads that looked like puddles of water that continuously appeared and disappeared.
Despite all of this, I was captivated by Seattle. The city is green (as is inferred from its nickname, the Emerald City) and surrounded by water, and as someone from a desert region, both of these aspects of nature were rare to me and felt exciting. I knew that the city was covered in clouds most of the year, but I found the dry heat of Seattle summers familiar and really rather enjoyable. Furthermore, the long winters made me really appreciate the heat, sunlight, and summers a lot more.
As I continued to live here, however, I noticed a lot more differences in the types of people that lived in Seattle compared to those that I grew up around in both Taiwan and New Mexico. Even outside the academic community, Seattle is liberal and well-educated. Everyone - everyone - seems well-educated.
Despite bringing in people from all over the world, Seattle is not very diverse in thought. It may be because I am constantly surrounded by academics, but oftentimes I feel like I am in an echo-chamber when controversial topics are brought up.
The town I grew up in New Mexico was mixed between conservative and liberal populations. I heard both sides of arguments when political issues were flared up around the country. Protests outside women's health clinics in my town consisted of both pro-choice and pro-life groups that would angrily shout at each other. Taiwan has a mix of pro-One-China and pro-Independence groups (and a mix of opinions about multiple political issues that are so convoluted that I have a hard time understanding them).
I miss hearing differing opinions concerning social and political issues. I'm 100% positive that the issues I face are simply because of the people I interact with on a regular basis, but the fact that I've noticed this makes me wonder how frequently people are stuck in their own echo-chambers - not just in Washington, but around the country as well.
I definitely also contribute to this because I have mostly the same opinions about issues as the people I interact with. Is it wrong to be surrounded by people who have similar opinions? Is it wrong to be bothered by the fact that everyone has similar political opinions as I do?
