“Faced with the choice between changing one’s mind and proving that there is no need to do so, almost everyone gets busy on the proof.” - John Kenneth Galbraith One of the problems of having strong opinions is they tend to stay that way. Even if you stay in learning mode on a topic, confirmation bias usually leads only to deeper confidence in positions held. No question overconfidence in our own beliefs and the resulting disdain of the other side is a dynamic that makes compromise and progress difficult. It’s hard work trying to be open-minded to different views. I thought I would look back and see what I changed my mind on in the last year or so to check my own openness. And indeed on a few things I have seen the error of my ways...at least for now. As Winston Churchill once said, “It’s better to be right than consistent.”
Checking Your Priors
“Faced with the choice between changing one’s mind and proving that there is no need to do so, almost everyone gets busy on the proof.” - John Kenneth Galbraith One of the problems of having strong opinions is they tend to stay that way. Even if you stay in learning mode on a topic, confirmation bias usually leads only to deeper confidence in positions held. No question overconfidence in our own beliefs and the resulting disdain of the other side is a dynamic that makes compromise and progress difficult. It’s hard work trying to be open-minded to different views. I thought I would look back and see what I changed my mind on in the last year or so to check my own openness. And indeed on a few things I have seen the error of my ways...at least for now. As Winston Churchill once said, “It’s better to be right than consistent.”
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