How do you avoid group-think/herd-mentality?
In this polirised world on many fronts, be it religion, race, nationality, culture, ideology, gender, code-editors(:)) and more, how does one avoid group-thinking or herd-mentality?
Group-think is a pro-social strategy. Getting comfortable with being "the odd one" is a good first step.
Although it can be debilitating in excess, cultivating a critical attitude (which means frequently re-examining assumptions and working back and forth between conclusions and how they're arrived at) is a good way to keep a handle on blind spots in how groups of people think.
Think before you speak and realize that there is nothing to gain from being "right" when all that is at stake is ego. Much of group think is just social pragmatism, an efficient way to filter out the people you have little to no chance of developing anything resembling a meaningful relationship with and a way to avoid pointless arguments.
Avoiding group think is a particular brand of herd mentality. We're social animals all the way down.
Good luck.