Changing One’s Mind
It’s not as easy as we might think
I know we do it all the time. We change our minds on what to wear, which shoe to put on first, how to fix something.
But these are under-the-radar things.
For the most part we are probably the only ones aware or, for that matter, care that we changed our mind on the thousands of little things.
When it comes to publicly changing our minds on obvious and important things, it’s another matter. There is more at stake when there are witnesses, especially those who have known us a long time and are glad to remind us what we used to think and do.
Personally, I don’t freely speak my mind even here and now with you. I consider my words and sometimes I choose to talk about other things.
Now the argument can be made that this is cowardice on my part.
Could be.
But it also could be wisdom.
There is a difference between believing an unpopular minority idea or philosophy strongly and in not believing something strongly enough, and therefore, not wanting to walk too far out on a weak branch.
The Bottom Line.
Change isn’t easy and yet it is important to continually measure beliefs and behaviors against an ideal - and that ideal should not be based on other people’s opinions too closely, if at all.
And for strong beliefs, it shouldn’t matter what others think or believe, because we have thought our positions through and simply believe them.
For weak opinions, it is best to not become too dogmatic because, theoretically at least, we should want to stay open to having our minds changed.
