Luckily, I don't feel the same responsibility that a U.S. citizen would, as my country has not declared war on terrorism. So I don't need war knowledge.

Still, it was very humbling, less than an hour ago, to stumble across an explanation in The Atlantic magazine about how to understand and predict the Caliphate of ISIS. I feel I should have known it already.

OK, I too plan to do a one-month deliberate effort at mastery. I will swiftly choose just what.

And then in a month I will report back here. Stay tuned.... (what would be the modern metaphor? Stay bookmarked?)

Any other readers ready to bite the bullet?
You don't have to say anything specific—I sure won't!— if you are not ready to blab in advance yet. But it's not blabbing if I don't tell you specifically what I will try to do.

As the wise old Chinese said, "A journey of a long month starts with the first day." (Some translations may vary)

Reminds me of an essay by Robert Greene on the same kind of experiment - https://powerseductionandwar.com/an-experiment-in-counter-stupidity/ - for anyone interested. He decides to take inventory of his beliefs and counter it with the opposite. He then tries to hold the opposite belief for a certain period of time.

Really helps to loosen up the mind.

Learn about Islam without prejudice or judgemental tendency. I bet that the most daunting subject to learn for so called open-minded westerner :)

The above commenter refers to "so called western open mindedness." Maybe instead of absolute it's easier to say that the west is "relatively" open minded compared to the near east, Far East and communist areas.

It's easier for westerners partly because they live in a communication rich environment. For example, there are (tens of?) thousands of books per year translated into Greek, versus a few hundred into Arabic. (I forget the actual numbers, see journalist Gwynne Dyer)

Partly because westerners have a three hundred year old culture of self discipline.

In the East if a woman is sexually assaulted they use an excuse by asking what was she wearing. If someone is physically assaulted without his consent they make an excuse by asking what was the reason, same if a body guard murders his employer. (a government minister in Pakistan)

Better to have the self discipline to say no assault is ever right and just, that excuses don't count.

The criminal code is to keep individuals from being both judge and jury, taking the law into their own hands.

Not being allowed to use violence forces one to use words, which forces one to think, and also to think about how to connect with others, thereby making a friendlier, healthier community. Which means being relatively open minded.

Or one can really come to dislike something one learns a great deal about

This also applies to food. You can pick something you don't like, perhaps olives, and keep eating them until you learn to appreciate them.

I remember doing this with coffee as a teenager. I thought it would be trendy to drink coffee, so I kept forcing them down until my tastebuds adapted. Later in life, I decided drinking coffee without sugar and milk was healthier (and more badass). Again, I just cold turkey-ed it until the tastebuds got on board.

In the end, it takes more effort to NOT like something than to like it, if you're exposed enough.

Above, Derek mentioned the Great Courses. Well, they no longer sell CD's, where I could listen on road trips, only DVD's for at home.

I am reminded of an old Peanuts cartoon. In panel one: Charlie Brown is eating breakfast cereal, and reading the back of the cereal box. Panel two: Linus is at breakfast, reading the back of the box. Panel three: Snoopy is eating from his dog dish, reading the dog food can.

By watching my DVD's during brunch, and at other times, I was able to finish 36 lessons in less than a month. The course was taught by the president of Rosemont College, who still teaches: Professor Sharon Hirsh. (Ain't it nice that western females have equal rights?) The course will come in handy next time I visit London and the galleries around Trafalgar Square. Called "How to Look at and Understand Great Art." The lectures covered from 500 B.C. to modern times.

I learned that for postmodern art the meaning is not supplied by the artist, but by the viewer, meaning it is OK to have multiple interpretations. I had a good time.

And in case you are wondering, that crazy modern art is not a hoax.