Are you open to changing your mind if presented with facts to the contrary?

[missy]

Does providing people with accurate info help them to see and realize the facts that might be contrary to their original beliefs?
No. As a rule strong feelings about issues are not always (often) based in reality or understanding.

Why Facts Don’t Change Our Minds

Why don't facts change our minds? This article explains the logic of false beliefs and proposes a better system for constructive conversation.

jamesclear.com

"Most people argue to win, not to learn."

The enigma of reason...




From The New Yorker

Why Facts Don’t Change Our Minds

New discoveries about the human mind show the limitations of reason.

www.newyorker.com

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

Im.never going to be liberal
My sister crossed over
but i never will

 

[missy]

I can only speak for myself. I am open to changing my mind if presented with facts supporting evidence to the contrary. I am not so stubborn to think I am always right and can never be wrong. No. Am I right much/most of the time? Yes, but I wish I wasn't because my view of life can be pessimistic and often I am proven right. I would love to be wrong about certain things but too often my pessimistic view of society turns out to be accurate.

However I am 100% open to changing my mind if evidence supports it. My beliefs are and have always been firmly based in science and the facts as we know them. Facts can and often do change with time as we learn more about certain things. One has to keep an open mind to keep progressing and moving and growing in life. IMO.

What is that quote? "Adapt or die".

 

[dk168]

I would like to say I may not always be right, however, I am seldom wrong.

And if I am proved to be wrong based on objective evidence and not just subjective opinion, then I shall gladly put my hand up to say I am wrong.

DK

 

[missy]

Im.never going to be liberal
My sister crossed over
but i never will

"They" say
"If You Are Not a Liberal When You Are Young, You Have No Heart, and If You Are Not a Conservative When Old, You Have No Brain"

https://www.amjmed.com/article/S0002-9343(16)30193-0/pdf

 

[missy]

I would like to say I may not always be right, however, I am seldom wrong.

And if I am proved to be wrong based on objective evidence and not just subjective opinion, then I shall gladly put my hand up to say I am wrong.

DK

This is how I feel as well. When presented with facts I will and do keep my mind open and flexible.

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

"They" say
"If You Are Not a Liberal When You Are Young, You Have No Heart, and If You Are Not a Conservative When Old, You Have No Brain"

https://www.amjmed.com/article/S0002-9343(16)30193-0/pdf

Ive always had an old soul but i have become more tolerant and accepting with age
if Bruce Springsteen is a conservative liberal he has influenced me to becoming a more liberal conservative

But if im backed into a corner i get all hard line

 

[missy]

I don’t label myself. But to say I’m most definitely liberal re social issues. On financial matters I tend to be more conservative but I vary. On social matters I am always of the live and let live mind. In the “None of my business” category.

 

[AllAboardTheBlingTrain]

Most people like to believe that they’re reasonable and practical individuals who would be willing to take new information on board but very few people actually are able to put their money where their mouth is. I have changed my (strong) opinions a few times when faced with facts and swallowed my pride and admitted I was wrong. But oh boy, was it a struggle. I think the true answer is always going to be “if I can overcome my confirmation bias” for 90% of people out there, whether they’re willing to admit it or not. Very few people are going to say “I’m always right, I’m super inflexible!” But a lot more people secretly believe that, I’m sure.

 

[missy]

Most people like to believe that they’re reasonable and practical individuals who would be willing to take new information on board but very few people actually are able to put their money where their mouth is. I have changed my (strong) opinions a few times when faced with facts and swallowed my pride and admitted I was wrong. But oh boy, was it a struggle. I think the true answer is always going to be “if I can overcome my confirmation bias” for 90% of people out there, whether they’re willing to admit it or not. Very few people are going to say “I’m always right, I’m super inflexible!” But a lot more people secretly believe that, I’m sure.

I think with age one can go one of two ways. More flexible and open minded or more stubborn and dig heels in even harder. When I was younger I was more stubborn now as I get older and a bit (hopefully) wiser I am way more flexible and open minded about things I once thought of in black and white. Figuratively speaking that is. I see more gray now. And hence I’m more open minded to changing my mind when presented with irrefutable facts.

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

I think with age one can go one of two ways. More flexible and open minded or more stubborn and dig heels in even harder. When I was younger I was more stubborn now as I get older and a bit (hopefully) wiser I am way more flexible and open minded about things I once thought of in black and white. Figuratively speaking that is. I see more gray now. And hence I’m more open minded to changing my mind when presented with irrefutable facts.

I totally agree especially about the grey areas

 

[AllAboardTheBlingTrain]

I think with age one can go one of two ways. More flexible and open minded or more stubborn and dig heels in even harder. When I was younger I was more stubborn now as I get older and a bit (hopefully) wiser I am way more flexible and open minded about things I once thought of in black and white. Figuratively speaking that is. I see more gray now. And hence I’m more open minded to changing my mind when presented with irrefutable facts.

Good point about age, but I think this applies to people at all ages, haha. I see it in my peer group as well - we have the dogmatists and the more level headed. And in my parents’ age group, some of them are much more open to having their mind changed and the others would deny any and all evidence (of their own eyes and ears, of peer reviewed science, of news articles by all kinds of organisations, of videos and pictures; you name it. They are the type to stubbornly insist the sky is green with purple polka dots even when they’re standing right there staring at the blue.) to the contrary of what they’ve personally decided. It’s maddening, to be honest, especially when the latter are always people who say that they believe in facts and speak only facts!

 

[kenny]

Yes, I'm open to changing my position based on facts, or lack thereof.
That's how I finally escaped religion.
Along those lines ... lack of evidence sufficient to justify belief ... realizing that faith is just a pretty word for pretending ... turning off one's critical thinking to go along with made up and agreed with stuff to reap the made up benefits.

But healthy skepticism will always be my mantra.
That means the so-called facts must pass my own filters/checks/tests/research.
Even then, like a good scientist, what I do accept to be a "fact" will always be subject to change when better evidence comes along.
When/if sufficient evidence comes along for god(s), then I'll accept it and be religious.

 

[Bron357]

My gripe is always with people who mistake an opinion for a fact!
Just because you say it’s so or think it’s so doesn’t make it so.
Often times people are heavily “invested” in their viewpoint and the “facts” that support it and need to defend it and deny anything to the contrary. And the more of their “life” that is built around or built on that viewpoint the more threatened they feel and the harder it is for them to open their eyes and mind and accept something to the contrary.
I am dedicated to my personal values and beliefs but are they right and yours wrong if they differ?
I am always open to learning and to having a better understanding. I don’t mind being wrong, sometimes it’s easier and more pleasant than being right!

 

[dk168]

I do like to say "I told you so!" when I am proved right by those have dismissed me as being wrong in the past. It is a very nice feeling!

DK

 

[jaaron]

I think most people think they are, but aren't.

Personally, I think the hardest time I've had with that is having to accept that someone isn't who I'd believed them to be.

If I think a policy is good, but someone shows me evidence to the contrary, I don't think I have too much trouble saying I was wrong in the first instance. If I believe in someone and they do something out of character with that belief, I have to work hard not to justify that behaviour in my mind and allow the fact of their behaviour speak for itself.

 

[jaaron]

Im.never going to be liberal
My sister crossed over
but i never will

Why do you equate not crossing over to liberalism with whether facts cause you to change your mind?

I'm not trying to be provocative here, just curious about how those two things go together (or don't) in your thinking.

 

[Tekate]

I can always be swayed by facts, that's why I read fact checkers, Fox News, Washington Examiner, because at heart I am a fact based person. When I was in high school we learned about facts vs opinion, I can never just 'accept' what I read without verification IF it just bolsters 'how I feel' or 'what I have always believed in' because what good am I if I just spout propaganda myself?

I can always be swayed by facts.

 

[kenny]

Im.never going to be liberal
My sister crossed over
but i never will

I'm curious.
What do facts changing one's mind have to do with being liberal or conservative?
I hope you're not implying that one party embraces facts, while the other does not.

Sincere question, I'm not trolling you.

 

[voce]

The problem is that in a gray world, people only remember and cling to the facts that seem to support their existing views, and facts that challenge of existing views, often gets forgotten. So people will be very certain "the facts" prove their own views even if there is still evidence to the contrary. Therefore, they will pass judgement and support a conclusion even when there is controversial evidence.

I'm sure most people consider themselves reasonable, but that still doesn't change the sad situation where we tend to jump to conclusions even when we shouldn't, if we would properly consider ALL the facts. When I was younger I was very opinionated but now that I'm older, I'm more comfortable with accepting uncertainty and distinguishing between fact and opinion.

 

[lyra]

Yes to changing my mind when faced with facts, especially scientific facts. But maybe if we're talking about ideals. Possibly even no. Like others have said, I'm not changing some core values, but that doesn't mean I won't listen to all beliefs, and appreciate the differences. This is a tough question.

 

[pearlsngems]

It's been a decades-long process, but I have become more liberal as I've gotten older and more experienced. I've seen the same process happen with my husband.

 

[Rockdiamond]

I've NEVER been wrong.
The exception was one time when I thought I was wrong, but that turned out to be incorrect

Seriously, it's a very timely subject- and for sure, people are generally set in their ideas.
When it comes to diamonds, I run into this frequently.
People read stuff online that's ...accurate in some cases- but clearly, not in all cases. For example, the sentiment that "SI2 is bad"
Many times, after presented with a cogent explanation of why the generalization doesn't work, a potential buyer will still say...oh- I see.
But don't show me an SI2.
OK.

if only that was the most serious instance of the bias we're discussing.....

 

[AGBF]

I don't think this is a good question. It presupposes that one can always change one's mind based on facts. In my opinion, there are many subjects in which facts play little or no role in determining a position.

In short, I find the question to be based on faulty logic.

 

[MMtwo]

Most people like to believe that they’re reasonable and practical individuals who would be willing to take new information on board but very few people actually are able to put their money where their mouth is. I have changed my (strong) opinions a few times when faced with facts and swallowed my pride and admitted I was wrong. But oh boy, was it a struggle. I think the true answer is always going to be “if I can overcome my confirmation bias” for 90% of people out there, whether they’re willing to admit it or not. Very few people are going to say “I’m always right, I’m super inflexible!” But a lot more people secretly believe that, I’m sure.

This is true for me. I try very hard to weight circumstances by facts. "Facts" tend to shift depending on the source. The media is having a field day earning those "clicks" and at times, our social media news feed is quite contrived by the political views they believe we hold. We (humble creatures that we are) tend to reflect the values and beliefs of our social groups. Our truths are based on our experiences. They sell us what we want to hear. Data mining, target demographics and media sway.

Honestly, I strive to be a more enlightened person. I "think" that I listen to all sides. However, I catch myself and my pet biases all the time. Sometimes I am too busy or distracted to untangle a ball of mental yarn. So, I grab the "truth" that explains my dilemma and I'm off and running again.
Until it no longer works.

 

[Begonia]

I'm an extremely logical and analytical person, and I can't argue with new evidence for long. My emotional brain and logical brain battle it out for a while. It can be extremely amusing.

 

[PreRaphaelite]

I’ve been dealing with this lately. I blame YouTube’s algorithms for throwing all kinds of odd tangential subject matter at me. The result is that after doing some critical thinking based on new ideas, I’m re-examining my beliefs. It’s very uncomfortable.

But the unexamined life isnt worth living, according to some old Greek dude.

 

[AprilBaby]

I will admit I am formed by a lot of confirmation bias and I am a dreaded Boomer. There have been lots of things I am open to that I was taught were wrong. There are things I cling to because of things that happened in my earlier life that I have a hard time letting go. Life is a learning experience.

 

[Karl_K]

This pole is funny because it is heavily biased.

 

[kenny]

... our social media news feed is quite contrived by the political views they believe we hold. ...

Yet another reason to delete all your social media accounts, and return to the real world.