I write quite often about the value in changing your mind, largely because it’s something that I work hard to do. I don’t want to change my mind simply for the sake of mixing things up, but rather to avoid holding an incorrect position simply because it was something that I used to believe.
In her book “The Charisma Myth“, author Olivia Fox Cabane shares this thought on changing your mind:
Why do split-second impressions last for so long? One reason is that, according to economist John Kenneth Galbraith, when “faced with the choice between changing one’s mind and proving there is no need to do so, almost everyone gets busy on the proof.”
Behavioral research has since proven him right. Once we’ve made a judgment about someone, we spend the rest of our acquaintanceship seeking to prove ourselves correct. Everything we see and hear gets filtered through this initial impression.
As Galbraith says, this is something that we all tend to do to some degree or another. If you don’t intentionally seek to change your mind, your default will be to defend your position even when that’s a bad move to make.
Sadly, I see some folks moving in the other direction. Seven years ago I shared about my friend “Joe” and how he often did a great job of sharing both sides of political situations. I didn’t generally agree with him, but he was influential in my eyes because of his ability to share the good and bad from every angle. In the years since then, he’s shifted from that to simply “getting busy on the proof” and making wild claims that seem out of character. In an effort to prove that his side is right, he’s instead forcing people away.
It’s easy for all of us to slip into that mode, but everyone is better off if you’re willing and able to change your mind when the information calls for it.
