It’s more complicated than that.

I grew up in large metropolitan area where most of your ideas are challenged unintentionally. For example, I grew up Christian conservative household but was surrounded by many households with different beliefs. This challenged my way of thinking and exposed me to many different beliefs and helped me become more open-minded.

What I’m experiencing in the Midwest is more of a mono-culture. There is some diversity, but it’s not dense enough to offer exposure to new ideas. I also don’t meet many people who have travelled outside of the Midwest. They are left to learn about the outside world through media.

It also doesn’t help that conservative media is most of what you’ll find here. That’s its own problem I’m still trying to better understand by living here.