The most important thing I learned in academia, after spending about three decades there, is the realization that it's not for me. ;-) The second most important thing is a set of skills that allows me to learn almost any new subject, at least in the humanities and social sciences, from scratch. I've applied these skills to my post-academic study of nonduality and geopolitics, among others - two areas in which my life has been fundamentally transformed.
One of these skills is learning to study, and then to know, more than one possibility in any field in general and in any specific topic in particular. In the context of nonduality, these possibilities include different teachings, schools, and traditions. In geopolitics, they usually mean two opposing narratives of the parties involved in a controversial issue, as well as analyses by third-party observers.
I've seen again and again how people who are otherwise wise or clever can become trapped in an echo chamber by confining themselves to a single teaching or narrative. They often end up apologetic, making themselves look rather ridiculous - or even painful - to external observers who happen to know more than one teaching or narrative.
I've learned never to criticize them directly. They simply don't know - and sadly, often refuse to know - what they don't know. And I can never know that I know better. Besides, any attempt to rationally explain or even gently invite them to consider another possibility only makes them emotional and more stubborn.
As long as I stay away from them, they don't criticize me either. But once I find myself in their proximity, whether literally or figuratively, and they sense that I don't share their idea, they rarely miss the opportunity to judge me in various forms, from unsolicited "bona fide" advice to outright accusations. Here again, I had to learn the hard way not to argue with them and simply walk away in silence, as I now prefer inner peace to being right.
Fortunately, I encounter such emotional confrontations less and less frequently. But when I do, or when I witness similar confrontations between two other people, I try to turn the moment into an opportunity to check whether I am stuck with only one possibility in that very area, or in neighboring ones. Sometimes I notice that I, too, know only one possibility, even if it differs from those of the two people arguing. I don't think they realize that they're doing me a favor by giving me an important life lesson for free. ;-)