There are at least two-three separate related skills that's lacking in this side of the world:

1. The ability to stand up against a friend circle and say the unpopular thing (contrarian)
2. The ability to hold an opposing viewpoint in mind, think sincerely about it, and find points of agreement/disagreement (as opposed to emotionally and viscerally opposing the opposing viewpoint, without even engaging with it "as if it were true") (rational thinking)
3. The ability to cut through cruft and focus on the core point and politics being put forward by any particular person (reading between the lines)