Have you ever changed your mind?

[ugabuga]

Have you ever changed your mind?

Psychological & sociological research say it's a very hard thing for us humans to do.

We're all victims of the confirmation bias?accepting & believing those ?facts? that confirm our existing opinions while disregarding or minimizing those ?facts? that disconfirm our opinions.

There's a wonderful book called Mistakes Were Made (But Not By Me) by Carol Tavris & Elliot Aronson that I can recommend highly. Right after finishing this book, I attended an event in which a self-avowed racist who had beaten up Rep. John Lewis in the '60s recanted his racism. Changing one's mind on such an important issue seems relatively rare.

Today's NPR Talk of the Nation show deals with this issue (audio or transcript at In Politics, Sometimes The Facts Don't Matter : NPR ).

Have you ever changed your mind about anything really important?

Do you think you're not subject to the confirmation bias?

 

[ChillPill]

Have you ever changed your mind about anything really important?

Yes and then I divorced him. ;-)

 

[LuciferSam]

It doesn't work that way. "Your" mind changes "you".

 

[Alicia Leonard]

Have you ever changed your mind?

Psychological & sociological research say it's a very hard thing for us humans to do.

We're all victims of the confirmation bias?accepting & believing those ?facts? that confirm our existing opinions while disregarding or minimizing those ?facts? that disconfirm our opinions.

There's a wonderful book called Mistakes Were Made (But Not By Me) by Carol Tavris & Elliot Aronson that I can recommend highly. Right after finishing this book, I attended an event in which a self-avowed racist who had beaten up Rep. John Lewis in the '60s recanted his racism. Changing one's mind on such an important issue seems relatively rare.

Today's NPR Talk of the Nation show deals with this issue (audio or transcript at In Politics, Sometimes The Facts Don't Matter : NPR ).

Have you ever changed your mind about anything really important?

Do you think you're not subject to the confirmation bias?

I have caught myself doing it

I try to be mindful.

 

[30ashopper]

No, never.

Actually, I might be wrong about that, I might have..

No, no, I was wrong, I haven't.

But maybe, there was that one time, at band camp?

 

[GoodWitch58]

It was an interesting show. I had to leave before the end, so I want to go back and listen.Thanks for posting the link.

I thought the most informative piece was the information about how our beliefs are what determine our opinions...and that we look for, or selectively hear or see, those things that will support our beliefs, rather than looking for any information that might cause us to question them.

I would love to have the time to do an experiment. I think it would be fun to take a "political junkie" person who only listens to Fox News and isolate them so that they would only listen to NPR for a period of time; and do the same in reverse. I think it would be fun to see if there was any difference -- or what the difference was, after the experience.

Another thing that I find fascinating is people whose world view is "stuck" in a certain time period. It's as though the world continued to turn, but that person is still operating as though it is (whatever year)...and everything about the present world is experienced through the prism of that other time.

If I were thinking of doing a research project this is an area that would be at the top of my list. I think this information tells us a lot about how we interact with our surroundings and with others.

 

[DuneAHH]

It was an interesting show. I had to leave before the end, so I want to go back and listen.Thanks for posting the link.

I thought the most informative piece was the information about how our beliefs are what determine our opinions...and that we look for, or selectively hear or see, those things that will support our beliefs, rather than looking for any information that might cause us to question them.

I would love to have the time to do an experiment. I think it would be fun to take a "political junkie" person who only listens to Fox News and isolate them so that they would only listen to NPR for a period of time; and do the same in reverse. I think it would be fun to see if there was any difference -- or what the difference was, after the experience.

Another thing that I find fascinating is people whose world view is "stuck" in a certain time period. It's as though the world continued to turn, but that person is still operating as though it is (whatever year)...and everything about the present world is experienced through the prism of that other time.

If I were thinking of doing a research project this is an area that would be at the top of my list. I think this information tells us a lot about how we interact with our surroundings and with others.

Something interesting I've observed about "stuck in time" syndrome... how frequently it exists in emotionally traumatized people (bad childhood, marriage, war, crime victim, etc) and they end up stuck in the time that was the worst for them.

Change is really hard. It takes real effort and vigilance to traject oneself into a different space & mind (or to experience someone else's shoes.)

 

[ugabuga]

I would love to have the time to do an experiment....

The book, Mistakes Were Made (But Not By Me), contains descriptions/results/interpretations of many experiments in this field.

They report on brain-monitoring experiments in which subjects are given irrefutable evidence contrary to their beliefs & their brains essentially shut down & will not accept or process the new/real/factual info/data.

You would think that the more the more expert a person is in an area, the more objective he/she would be about processing new info in that area--but no--it seems to be just the opposite. Unfortunately, even scientists, trained to be objective, are subject to confirmation bias.

It seems we're programmed by evolution to justify our beliefs & actions, even if we know on some level that it's not quite right.

We don't want to become cold computers, but we need to be on guard against our basic human tendencies to justify & rationalize "facts" to fit them into our already-established worldview.

 

[GoodWitch58]

Something interesting I've observed about "stuck in time" syndrome... how frequently it exists in emotionally traumatized people (bad childhood, marriage, war, crime victim, etc) and they end up stuck in the time that was the worst for them.

Change is really hard. It takes real effort and vigilance to traject oneself into a different space & mind (or to experience someone else's shoes.)

I agree and it seems to be more difficult for some personalities than others. Another fascinating bit of information I heard recently: only 11% of the psychiatrists today do talk therapy--listen to the patient; all the others simply prescribe a drug.
Maybe so many get stuck because they have no one to listen and the drugs they may get from the doc may add to the "stuckness".

Change is hard, it seems empathy is even harder for some folks.

Our brains are pretty amazing....

 

[Lynnie]

I'm a woman. I change my mind at the drop of a hat.....several times a day.