How many times do you deliberately put yourself in uncomfortable situations? I would put money on 90 percent of you saying “rarely,” if at all. I don’t blame you. Personally, I avoid almost anything that might be remotely uncomfortable. Heck, I’ll avoid going out with my own friends because it stresses me out, but that’s a different topic…

Luckily, today there’s no reason for anyone to feel uncomfortable at all! Curate your life and environment and you’ll feel “safe,” from the content you consume and the places you work to the people you follow and those you give your time. Everything and everyone is agreeable in this beautiful world you’ve made! Your opinions are the “right” ones, and everything you see is as pleasant as unicorns flying in the sky. Isn’t everything swell?

Every action has a reaction (said someone) so of course, there are consequences to what we’ve created. Echo chambers, bubbles, “ideological silos” and distrust. Research in Scientific American explains how the linkage of “self” changes the way we judge the outside world. Our particular sense of self changes the way we “incorporate and receive new information.” A large divide and polarization has grown since the 1990s and, “over the past twenty years, the number of American’s in the ‘tails’ of this ideological distribution has doubled.” (Pew Research, 2014).

What does this mean? Is this necessarily a bad thing? How much does it actually matter to our lives to understand different perspectives or even compromise? I have my life and you have yours. That’s it. Right?

One event will try to help us address these questions, featuring a stage of change makers, refugees and a former mayor.

TEDxMinneapolis is an event that hopes to elevate the Minneapolis story through “ideas worth spreading.” This year’s event is August 18 at the Cowles Center downtown. Tickets are on sale tomorrow. From experience, this event will challenge you — if you’re up for it. You’re faced with individuals who come from completely different backgrounds. Through their storytelling, you hear difficult topics explained through a new point of view you’ve never considered. Before you know it, a shared experience begins to develop. Here’s a look into a couple of these players:

CEO/Founder atASIYA Modest Active Wear, Fatimah Hussein fled war-torn Somalia at age 6. Now a licensed graduate social worker, Fatimah has dedicated her work to serving the girls in her community. She developed the first sports hijab in 2015, allowing Muslim women of all ages to play sports and gain a new level of confidence, comfort, and health without compromising their cultural beliefs.

R.T. Rybak, President & CEO, The Minneapolis Foundation, is a civil servant, businessperson, activist and writer. R.T. Rybak served 12 years as mayor of Minneapolis, yet his legacy is just beginning.

Learn more about this theme and the speakers at TEDxMinneapolis.com.