Do people ever really change their minds on important topics?

Bigjobss

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Yes with maturity and experience I have changed my stance on many important things. I often cringe at the thought of my younger self, and I will probably cringe at my current self in another decade or so.
 
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Instantaneous facts & new info may very well not be enough to change our minds immediately....But when combined with life experience over time, they most certainly are.

A great example of how the human psyche operates, when it comes to the notion & idea of 'changing one's mind', is the movie '12 Angry Men.'

It demonstrates how new info, built up over time, can & does change people's minds....It's also an excellent study into human psychology, in it's prejudices, ignorance, logic, reason, personal history & emotion....And how they all interplay in forming our beliefs.

Admitting you were wrong & in error is also taken as a personal slight upon our human pride & is tantamount to admitting an error of judgement...So it also impacts upon our notion of self efficacy, competency & Identity....Being open to the fact that human nature is in fact, error prone, is one of the best tests of a free & open person, willing to adapt, learn & change when confronted with new information.
 

craigos

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I used to be against gay marriage (until prob 15 years ago), figure it was a hangover of a Catholic upbringing. Once I figured out I don’t really give a fu** then I changed my mind.

It’s funny when I tell people this, some get s**tty as that I USED to be against it a long time ago.
That's so stupid. I know people that get angry when others change their views on things "I remember when you use to be anti-immigration!".

Like educating yourself on a topic and changing your mind is a bad thing.
 

Herne Hill Hammer

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1950 then. A time before now, basically.


And this statement gives away that you think it's a battle. It's not 'men v women' or 'gender pay gap v no gender pay gap'. That's a very poor characterisation of the debate.

My point is this: there is probably no gender pay gap, at least in the sense of what men and women in similar roles are earning. But there is no point in becoming all angry and riled up when someone (usually a woman) suggests there is. What does it achieve? Men have at least of as much of a responsibility to promote equality in the workplace, and we aren't there yet.

If a woman says 'you know, we earn on average less than you, have a look at these figures', perhaps she is not doing the overall cause of equality any favours. But we have a choice here. Instead of saying 'no you don't!!!! what are you talking about! I hate it when people are brain dead morons!' we should be saying 'I recognise that there is still exists fundamental gender bias in the workplace. I don't think it necessarily translates to women being paid less for similar roles, but as a man I am on your side and want to try and eliminate sexism.' Yes I'm exaggerating and it's a bit corny etc, but I think you get my drift.


I wasn't talking about someone taking 5 years off work in a 10 year period. That would evidence a clear intent on their behalf that they don't really give a s**t about their career, and are more focused on their family, or other pursuits. More power to them, but as you say, they can't expect to be jumping up the corporate ladder. That is an entirely separate debate to the pay gap. It's like someone travelling for 4 years and expecting to jump back in where they left off.

The poster above was talking specifically about a woman taking 'a year' off. When you consider that the minimum paid parental leave entitlement is almost half a working year, it's really a pretty big call to state they should 'expect to suffer'.



I don't disagree with any of this, in fact I agree wholeheartedly.


Again, I don't necessarily disagree. I don't, however, think there should be such a clear demarcation drawn between 'having a family' and 'choosing your career'. In a nutshell - your family and your career are (generally speaking) probably the two biggest legacies you are going to leave on this earth. As a society we should be doing all we can to ensure we can have both. I realise that sometimes there a tough decisions to be made, but lets try and minimise those tough decisions, rather than take the hard line and simply say 'well, you chose to have kids, so it's now harder for you to get a promotion'. That is BS. The two choices are not mutually exclusive.

Anyway, we've gone off track. My central point relates to sexism in the workplace. Maybe it's because I see it almost every day - but I still feel like we have a long way to go.

And on a slightly interrelated point - is there any real reason why most nurses are women and most CEOs are men, apart from the historical tendencies of those professions? Why shouldn't we strive to make the split 50/50 in both? I see absolutely no reason why men would be just equipped to do nursing, and women just as equipped to be CEOs. Unless we are suggesting that women are inherently less driven, motivated and talented than men?

I work in a very large organisation. I went through our org chart a few weeks ago. Starting at the very top and working my way down country by country, division by division and site by site I could not find one single male PA.

Jordan Peterson has a good take on male and female CEOs. He basically says it's insanely competitive and there is such a small market on the planet and that it's really a horrible job that most women aren't interested in sacrificing family etc for.
 

Herne Hill Hammer

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I've changed my mind over the years on capital punishment from a strong yes t ol a definite no to almost going back the other way again.

Making a mistake and executing someone innocent of the particular crime still nags away at me.
 
I used to be against gay marriage (until prob 15 years ago), figure it was a hangover of a Catholic upbringing. Once I figured out I don’t really give a fu** then I changed my mind.

It’s funny when I tell people this, some get s**tty as that I USED to be against it a long time ago.
Most Australians were homophobic 25 years ago. We've come a long way in a really short period of time, so much so that religious people now need special protection for us NTTAWWTs. For some reason.
 

Catters 070911

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Or do most people basically stay the same, in terms of their opinions and outlooks, throughout adulthood?

My opinions on a lot of things have changed. The high school me, the early uni me, the late uni me, the working me, the current me, all different.

And not because I'm attempting to be different. I'm not actively trying to change my mind about things.

But as I read and hear and see and experience more things for myself, my evidence base develops, and so too do my opinions.

In a later comment in this thread I will list some examples of topics where my opinion has changed not one but twice or thrice or more over the years.

For now, I just want to get your thoughts on this. Do you ever really change your mind on important topics?

Do you think other people change their minds on important topics?

Over to you, bigfooty :thumbsu:


Most people will never admit that they are wrong, when they are.

Their fragile egos depend on them winning the argument.
 

Catters 070911

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Yes if they are opened minded and have a curiosity of how the world works and are willing to be adaptable and embrace change.

A lot of people are close minded thou.

Also some thought patterns are innate and genetically set and can't really be changed.


"Closed-minded" = People who don't think the same as you do.
 

Catters 070911

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Religious people certainly don't.

On the plus side the take up is lower than it used to be so there is progress on that front.


Yet there have been many positives to religion over the years.

I can't imagine, though, that you would ever change your mind, which answers the OP's question.
 

ioppolo

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Problem is, the term 'closed-minded' is entirely relative. Trying to argue the specifics with someone on what constitutes a closed mind would be a pointless endeavour.
 
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