“I can change my mind in an instant.”
A friend of mine emailed me that line a few weeks back. He listens to others’ views, and if they make sense and he considers the facts and logic of what was presented to him, he remains open to revising his perspective and adopting that of the other person.
It’s an admirable quality in short supply. Even showing respect for others’ views seems to have dwindled a lot the past three years, and with the coronavirus raging, there seem to be even shorter tempers.
I’ve always wondered why “changing your mind” is seen in a negative context, particularly politically. It’s almost like you’re branded a traitor if you listen to someone else and they convince you of something you didn’t believe beforehand.
Instead, as my friend pointed out in his email, it should be a sign of maturity and intelligence to listen to others and be open to what they say, and be willing to challenge your personal beliefs. And, egads, even adopt those of someone who you might have disagreed with in the past.
It’s a sign of growth for people to change. It’s a sign of growth that you are open to receiving new information and thinking about it instead of rejecting it outright. But it’s hard because it forces you to work. You have to think. You have to listen. You must be willing to discard preconceived notions you have about the way life is.
Years ago, when Congressman Richard Gephardt from Missouri ran for President in 1987, an ad from the Democratic nominee for President, Michael Dukakis, branded Gephardt as “flip flopper.” The ad has gone down in history as an all-time classic political ad for branding Gephardt as someone who continually changed his opinions, which led to him dropping out of the raise.
In essence, the ad showed flip flopping images designed to disparage Gephardt for changing his views. That message is that it’s “bad” or “evil” to change how you approach an issue, rather than a positive sign of growth that you’ve listening to new information and reformed how you see things.
We’re in a rapidly changing environment, folks. We’re being asked to absorb a TON of information in a very short period of time regarding the virus and understand what is best for our families, loved ones, jobs, businesses, both in terms of health and finances.
My friend speculated in his email that perhaps 10 percent of U.S. citizens make the attempt to see someone else’s point-of-view. I’m not sure if that stat is high, low or accurate because I don’t think anyone has ever polled on that issue.
The point my friend makes is that a majority of people don’t hear others out. It’s there that I believe he is accurate. And we can all change that because it only takes effort to listen and we can all do that. It comes down to our respective personal desire to pay attention to others.
Changing your mind is an under-valued quality. It’s looked down upon.
We should revise that. Make it so we respect others who choose to change their minds. Make it something we look up to. It would certainly make our society more civil and oriented towards looking ahead rather than reliving the past.
A friend of mine emailed me that line a few weeks back. He listens to others’ views, and if they make sense and he considers the facts and logic of what was presented to him, he remains open to revising his perspective and adopting that of the other person.
It’s an admirable quality in short supply. Even showing respect for others’ views seems to have dwindled a lot the past three years, and with the coronavirus raging, there seem to be even shorter tempers.
I’ve always wondered why “changing your mind” is seen in a negative context, particularly politically. It’s almost like you’re branded a traitor if you listen to someone else and they convince you of something you didn’t believe beforehand.
Instead, as my friend pointed out in his email, it should be a sign of maturity and intelligence to listen to others and be open to what they say, and be willing to challenge your personal beliefs. And, egads, even adopt those of someone who you might have disagreed with in the past.
It’s a sign of growth for people to change. It’s a sign of growth that you are open to receiving new information and thinking about it instead of rejecting it outright. But it’s hard because it forces you to work. You have to think. You have to listen. You must be willing to discard preconceived notions you have about the way life is.
Years ago, when Congressman Richard Gephardt from Missouri ran for President in 1987, an ad from the Democratic nominee for President, Michael Dukakis, branded Gephardt as “flip flopper.” The ad has gone down in history as an all-time classic political ad for branding Gephardt as someone who continually changed his opinions, which led to him dropping out of the raise.
In essence, the ad showed flip flopping images designed to disparage Gephardt for changing his views. That message is that it’s “bad” or “evil” to change how you approach an issue, rather than a positive sign of growth that you’ve listening to new information and reformed how you see things.
We’re in a rapidly changing environment, folks. We’re being asked to absorb a TON of information in a very short period of time regarding the virus and understand what is best for our families, loved ones, jobs, businesses, both in terms of health and finances.
My friend speculated in his email that perhaps 10 percent of U.S. citizens make the attempt to see someone else’s point-of-view. I’m not sure if that stat is high, low or accurate because I don’t think anyone has ever polled on that issue.
The point my friend makes is that a majority of people don’t hear others out. It’s there that I believe he is accurate. And we can all change that because it only takes effort to listen and we can all do that. It comes down to our respective personal desire to pay attention to others.
Changing your mind is an under-valued quality. It’s looked down upon.
We should revise that. Make it so we respect others who choose to change their minds. Make it something we look up to. It would certainly make our society more civil and oriented towards looking ahead rather than reliving the past.