Why it's Hard to Change Your Mind

[SkyzykS]

@Aragorn

Good point Drew. Approach is everything. And I think allowing yourself to still own the role of “student” in any area really helps you stay open to change as well as keeping your ego in check. It’s harder for most than it would seem haha.

I have a love/hate relationship with this concept. The owner of the company I work at has about 35 years experience in our product. Behind that is the culmination of about 110 more (multi-generation family owned company). He can show me something in 30 seconds off the top of his head that takes a year (or more) to fully understand and apply correctly.
Its great to have in incredible resource right then and there, but that time it takes for some of those bits of technique or information to really coalesce can be hell. The Ah-Ha! moments when they do are great though.

[Alrightmiami19c]

@pat

The reason I disagree is because knowledge and wisdom takes effort.

Bingo. And people will only put effort into something they value. A basic understanding of what is right, what is noble and just, is imperative.

[magick]

@Alrightmiami19c

Bingo. And people will only put effort into something they value. A basic understanding of what is right, what is noble and just, is imperative.

What if changing a person’s mind requires them to challenge and completely destroy what they believe is “right”?

I think this is why it’s so hard to change a person’s mind. Most people don’t build their opinions of things out of a vacuum- it’s an evolution from some core beliefs they hold.

It’s why you can easily change a person’s mind if they’re wrong about some random academic crap- “The Golden Gate Bridge is in San Francisco, not NYC you dumbass!”, and but not something that can be fundamental to their belief system.

Both true atheists and people with religion are an easy example here. Destroy an opinion they hold that is a product of their core belief system and they may be forced to challenge their core belief itself.

It’s a terrifying notion, and it’s why I dislike anyone who denigrates people on the basis of their opinions. Having your core belief system challenged is scary to any person. Why can’t you at least be nice and respectful while you do it?

Unless, of course, that person’s core belief system dictates that person try to murder you.

[Alrightmiami19c]

@magick

Unless, of course, that person’s core belief system dictates that person try to murder you.

Let me for a second pose the same question to you with your last sentence. How do you know it’s right not to murder? To rape? How do you know it’s right to not force your will onto another?
There are many cultures where these are part of their core beliefs. How do we get them to change their minds?

@magick

Why can’t you at least be nice and respectful while you do it?

I didn’t think I was being disrespectful to anyone. Was that rhetorical?

[magick]

[quote=“Alrightmiami19c, post:25, topic:217861, full:true”]

Let me for a second pose the same question to you with your last sentence. How do you know it’s right not to murder? To rape? How do you know it’s right to not force your will onto another?
There are many cultures where these are part of their core beliefs. How do we get them to change their minds?[/quote]

I honestly do not believe that an “open-minded”, used in general terms, person can exist as far as core beliefs are concerned. I also believe that everyone is incredibly biased when it comes to issues that deal with their core beliefs.

I think an life-altering event is required to create a possibility for a change in one’s core beliefs, hence the reason I don’t bother to argue with people for the sake of changing their minds when it comes to things like abortion rights. I do it mostly as a way to pass time, an intellectual challenge to myself, and as a way to have some sense of what others feel about the subject.

@Alrightmiami19c

I didn’t think I was being disrespectful to anyone. Was that rhetorical?

Yep. My entire post was supposed to be rhetorical.

[pat]

@magick

Unless, of course, that person’s core belief system dictates that person try to murder you.

Word up.

Murderous ideology needs to be and deserves to be destroyed. Sometimes, though, that requires one pull the trigger.

[jasmincar]

@Alrightmiami19c

Yeah, I was your typical indoctrinated teenager regurgitating “The Daily Show” as if I had any idea what was going on. I was 18 in 2004 and voted for John Kerry (Jesus Christ that is so hard to admit.) It wasn’t that I believed the liberal nonsense I professed, I just wasn’t actually thinking about it critically. A lot of kids go through the same thing. You can’t force an 18 yr old to change their mind, but you can be a catalyst for them to think. I had a professor for Criminal law that really challenged me to analyze what I thought to be true. Honestly, Rush Limbaugh was another gatekeeper for me. I used to say the same stupid shit as my high school friends: “Limbaugh is a fat idiot.” Of course that was until I listened to him. Those two men got the fire burning and I try like hell to read and research as much as I can with my free time.

Wasn’t sure if you wanted a specific topic where my mind was changed, but I consider it a conversion to Liberty.

That’s inspiring bro.

[Dr_Pangloss]

I try and bring a child-like wonder to anything new I learn. So rather than feeling threatened if my current beliefs are questioned I get excited about the possibility of learning something new.

Many years ago I started surfing and the place where I took lessons gave me a bright yellow rash guard. The rash guard marked me as a beginner and more experienced surfers knew to give me a wide berth. Since then I’ve surfed Kawai, Rincon, Cerritos, Cabarete, etc and I still wear the yellow rash guard. For me,it’s become a symbol of unapologetic curiosity and humility and a metaphor for my approach to daily living.

[Aragorn]

@Dr_Pangloss

I try and bring a child-like wonder to anything new I learn. So rather than feeling threatened if my current beliefs are questioned I get excited about the possibility of learning something new.

Many years ago I started surfing and the place where I took lessons gave me a bright yellow rash guard. The rash guard marked me as a beginner and more experienced surfers knew to give me a wide berth. Since then I’ve surfed Kawai, Rincon, Cerritos, Cabarete, etc and I still wear the yellow rash guard. For me,it’s become a symbol of unapologetic curiosity and humility and a metaphor for my approach to daily living.

I really like that. It’s the same attitude I have tried to cultivate in all areas of my life, and you have a bright neon yellow visible sign to remind you to keep that attitude. It’s a handy reminder to keep the ego at bay.

It is really more exciting to learn more about the universe than to feel you have it all figured out…what a boring universe would that be? I believe Richard Feynman termed it “The joy of finding things out” and there was a documentary/interview about it. It is probably one of the outstanding interviews/documentaries of all time. Feynman talks about “knowing the difference between the NAME of something, and KNOWING something”

[MattyG35]

I thought about this fairly recently, and during my primary school (K-12) education, I don’t think we covered any of the classics. I wonder if that has to do with pushing Western Civilization out of schools?

[therajraj]

@MattyG35

I thought about this fairly recently, and during my primary school (K-12) education, I don’t think we covered any of the classics. I wonder if that has to do with pushing Western Civilization out of schools?

When you have people of all different cultures crammed into one school, values get stripped because one group or another gets offended.

So yes

[belligerent]

As an Objectivist, my views are correct. Why would I want to change my mind?

[pat]

Exactly! If your always right, you never have to change your mind. Its a great way to be