Politics: an unavoidable fact of life that people love to hate, or better yet, avoid altogether. Many would argue we should quietly skirt around and exit all conversations pertaining to the government, the President or hotly contested issues. But what is really gained by keeping your thoughts to yourself?

By dodging political discourse, you’re not just evading social discomfort, you’re also choosing to forgo the benefits that come from sharing ideas. In other words, refusing to talk politics also means refusing to help make the government better.

I will never, ever apologize for talking politics as politics is the way in which we devise solutions to complex societal woes, foster understanding between diverse groups of Americans and overthrow oppressive cultural norms.

First, let’s be perfectly clear about what is meant by “political discourse.” Political discourse is not the insults your grandma mutters at her television when she sees President Obama on the news. It’s not the edgy millennial blogger calling out others’ privilege while hardly recognizing their own. It’s not the calm, quiet bystander on the sidelines who says you need to respect everyone’s viewpoint, even if they do run around with Nazi flags and tiki torches. It’s not memes about which political party is the devil incarnate, it’s not angry late-night television hosts verbally “shredding” their opponents, and it’s not acts of violence.

So, if political discourse is none of the above behaviors that we are constantly bombarded with, what actually is political discourse?

Political discourse is a conversation based on the principle: question everything. Why do I believe what I believe and, wait –– how do I know what I believe is true? Are my sources reliable? What other sources could I use to validate what I know, or find out more than I realized before? Is CollegeKidsForFreeTuition.com really more trustworthy than a Pew Research Center study on the same topic? How about ChristianMomsForGuns.com? What biases are at play in the information you are taking as fact? What biases do you yourself harbor, and how are they distorting your views?

By asking these questions, political discourse facilitates the productive exchange of ideas in service of a greater goal: finding political solutions that actually work in practice and not just in theory. It promotes ideas rooted in logical reasoning and does away with those rooted in intolerance. While respect and care are needed in political discussion, this does not mean views should go unquestioned as this will provide no chance for growth and understanding.

We all have the right to believe and say what we wish, but we are not free from the consequences of those thoughts and beliefs. It is our own fault when others react to what we put forth in a political discussion. What defines us is the choice of whether to use these opportunities to grow, or to double down and learn nothing. I, for one, choose to keep learning.