I generally feel like it's worth it. Even if that worth is only validating why you stopped chatting to that person in the first place.

Especially because I have no irl-linked social media, Im often initiating contact... But I like checking in on random people every few years or so, you never know, you might brighten someone's day; develop connections you might not have with acquaintances because you've both changed; or at the very least, reminding yourself that there's no loss if you don't talk to that person ever again!

I'd rather be regretting my interaction than to regret not interacting at all.

You're right. Sorry, I should've mentioned I was thinking of particular types of situations where the person has the mentality of "oh man, I don't know, it'd be cool to know that" and proceeds to not do anything about it.

Or like you say, having strong convictions about something but not having done the reading themselves. I don't mind listening to opposing opinions if they actually believe them and didn't just regugitate something they heard on foxnews.

I think in most cases, curiosity is what drove human development to such heights. And to just stop it at "oh yeah, I dunno hey" takes a very particular type of person... A type of person I just can't understand!

Thanks for pointing that out though, I hadn't quite fully figured out how to articulate what I was trying to say!

Being perfectly fine not knowing something and not caring to get answers aka willful ignorance.

Why don't you want to know?!!! How is it that the thought proceding "I don't know" is not immediately "but I want to find out"?! We can't know everything but we have so many answers at our fingertips. As if you don't want to absorb as much of it as you can?!

It immediately makes me think that the person I am speaking to is not worth my time. Chances are, the more they're willfully ignorant about, the more likely they'll also not care about how their actions affect others. Major red flag for me.

Edit: I should've mentioned I was thinking of particular types of situations where the person has the mentality of "oh man, I don't know, it'd be cool to know that" and proceeds to not do anything about it or when they are regurgitating something they heard on foxnews with such blind conviction without bothering to look into it further