Have you changed your mind?

[jkjk]

I heard someone ask a question today I thought could make a decent thread:

 

 

When was the last time you changed your mind about something important?

 

 

The question comes from the idea that we tend to stick to what we believe is true no matter what new facts or information come our way, but on occasion we learn new information about something which prompts us to think differently on a topic.

 

The question might cause you to think of something political first, which makes sense since people's politics generally don't change nor do views on specific issues.

 

For this thread, there is no need to think of only politics. If you can think of a time you changed your mind on anything important, post it.

 

For those who can't think of a time when you changed your mind on something important, any time you changed your mind about something is fine to post about (music, movies, television, other).

[Neils von Zeppelin]

 

Please .... Allow me to give "a somewhat abstract " answer .... ! ....

To change your mind = To see a new horizon = To discover a new world .....

 

Personally an experience of overriding importance has forced me to change " my frame of mind " .... Approach to Quantum Physics .... ! .....

It was necessary to set aside years of study Classical Physics .... Much more difficult we had to question " the ideas that build our everyday life " !! .... As .... The Cause & The Effect .... The fundamental Principle of Identity A = A .... It was necessary to give up well known experiences .... It is common to play heads or tails .... It is impossible in Quantum Physics the piece falls on both sides .... !! ....

 

A genius, Albert Einstein, was at odds with  Quantum Physics .... A revolutionary conception .... !! ....

He spent the last 30 years of his life fighting against these new ideas .... It was all in vain .... !! .... A biographer has written " He would have done better to go fishing " ....

One day Einstein was in a critical discussion with Niels Bohr .... Somewhat annoyed by the ideas of the great Danish physicist he exclaimed :

-  " God does not play dice "

In other words God doest not leave things in .... Uncertainty ....

 

A " simpler way " to discover a new world is to read the books of .... Carlos Castaneda .... Wow ... !! ...

 

Nevertheless .... That's nothing to what is to come .... To fall in Love .... !! .... To be madly in Love .... !! ....

A different story ....

 

 

[Sarah.Adams]

yesterday  

[Sarah.Adams]

@Niels von Wittelsbach

 

what's your opinion on the QBism interpretation of quantum mechanics?  

[Cult Icon]

jkjk, excellent thread topic.  

 

I have a great many.

[Neils von Zeppelin]

 

To get tired of ( sb or sth ) is a mighty movement to change your mind ....

 

I am growing weary at the sight of the very big breast of Kara Del Toro .... ! ....  That's your view as well ? ....

[jkjk]

14 hours ago, Cult Icon said:

jkjk, excellent thread topic.  

 

I have a great many.

 

Feel free to share one or more. I did not think many people would be able to remember having had a change of heart or mind as it seems like a rare thing to happen.

 

 

I have not been able to think of one yet. I have thought of a few times when I didn't have a strong opinion on something but after gaining knowledge I understood which side was right. That's not really the same thing, though.

[Neils von Zeppelin]

22 hours ago, SuperG.Girl said:

@Niels von Wittelsbach

 

what's your opinion on the QBism interpretation of quantum mechanics?  

 

" The one who says I understand Quantum Physics certainly does not understand anything at all. "

 

Had you forgotten ? Apparently you strike an attitude ! .... To be easy in one's mind about " The Superiority of the Republicans "  ! ....

You clearly made a change of direction ?

[Sarah.Adams]

2 minutes ago, Niels von Wittelsbach said:

" The one who says I understand Quantum Physics certainly does not understand anything at all. "

 

Had you forgotten ? Apparently you strike an attitude ! .... To be easy in one's mind about " The Superiority of the Republicans "  ! ....

You clearly made a change of direction ?

 

Am I the one striking an attitude?

 

Do you ever get the jokes? ......... and what the frak had I forgotten

 

Most innovative analysis QBism ever published ........ you have clearly mastered the topic

 

[Neils von Zeppelin]

51 minutes ago, SuperG.Girl said:

 

Am I the one striking an attitude?

 

Do you ever get the jokes? ......... and what the frak had I forgotten

 

Most innovative analysis QBism ever published ........ you have clearly mastered the topic

 

 

Excuse me .... Jokes in the USA are not the same as elsewhere ! ....

[Cult Icon]

15 hours ago, jkjk said:

 

Feel free to share one or more. I did not think many people would be able to remember having had a change of heart or mind as it seems like a rare thing to happen.

I have not been able to think of one yet. I have thought of a few times when I didn't have a strong opinion on something but after gaining knowledge I understood which side was right. That's not really the same thing, though.

 

TBH I don't agree with a lot of the details in your OP.

 

I change my mind on issues when the weight of evidence appears in my line of sight or my mental capabilities in that region are upgraded.   or there's an epiphany and I go back and find my cognitive errors.  I don't think that this is particularly uncommon way of processing things.

 

This is not the most recent one (I change my mind about <personally>unimportant things all the time)  but one that stands out is how I went from lifelong Agnostic to Atheist.   I don't remember what triggered it but I reached a saturation point where I found organized religion so obviously "human" in all of its major aspects.

 

[jkjk]

11 hours ago, Cult Icon said:

TBH I don't agree with a lot of the details in your OP.

 

You don't agree that people don't change their minds on things? or something else?

 

11 hours ago, Cult Icon said:

This is not the most recent one (I change my mind about <personally>unimportant things all the time)  but one that stands out is how I went from lifelong Agnostic to Atheist.   I don't remember what triggered it but I reached a saturation point where I found organized religion so obviously "human" in all of its major aspects.

 

This reminded me of something Ricky Gervais says. I don't recall the details but his opinion is, whether you believe in God or not, we are all agnostic.

[Neils von Zeppelin]

 

jkjk " ....a change of heart or mind as it seems like a rare thing to happen. " .... Not quite ....

 

It is a very widespread idea, some of us have been educated in this idea, the transition from the belief in several Gods to the belief in one God has been a mark of a overriding importance in the  Progress of History of Humanity.

From this point of view the Gods of ancient Greece - Zeus - Athena - Apollo - Artemis - Aphrodite - Hermes - Dionysus - .... Are of anthropomorphic nature.

 

Unfortunately these very common interpretations have no value !.

 

The Greek religion is not anthropomorphic but on the contrary theomorphic ( Goethe ) .... A divinisation of man .... 

The authentic Grandeur of the Greek religion has nothing to envy to other conceptions of religion, of God.

 

India is often referred as " The Land of the Gods ".

 

To the Happy Few

[Cult Icon]

2 hours ago, jkjk said:

 

You don't agree that people don't change their minds on things? or something else?

 

 

I would say that people stick to what they are indoctrinated in, and tend to marginalize new and innovative information into droplets.  However, sometimes there is a "double whammy" that comes in that causes them to stop and put intellectual energy in reshaping their position.  This opens up the region to further information.

 

Or, as stated earlier, they receive some sort of training or mindblowing life experience that opens up new pathways of consciousness.  This leads to a mental reorganization.

[jkjk]

To be clear the question and the idea that people are not open to changing the way they see things were not mine. The question was asked by someone else and the premise was formed through that person's view of things.

 

I'm not sure I feel confident that I know or have met enough people to definitively state that I don't think people change their minds with regularity.

 

 

I do believe you mentioned to two most likely avenues for changing how one views the world: 1) Education / Knowledge 2) Dramatic or traumatizing life experience (positive or negative).

[Neils von Zeppelin]

 

The human mind is not naturally inclined to change.

Prejudices, habits are tenacious.

The positive ones often come from the negative ....

[Cult Icon]

There was a pop psychology concept that rotated during the great recession about mental stickiness (and bestselling pop book called "stick" or something about that manner).  

 

To sum it up, it is proven scientifically that an ignorant mind has "first come, first serve" tendencies.  It will fuse onto the first viewpoint or world-view that it absorbs in a particularly strong way.  It can be reversed, of course, or modified but it takes a lot more cognitive effort as the neural pathways are already carved out.   This is why it informercials/gurus can be effective, as they seek to teach something new (biased towards their own interests) and quickly convert people into believers.  

[jkjk]

^^ That makes a lot of sense.

[Cult Icon]

^^^

 

With the God thing, the main difference between Agnostic (I attended Church for a couple years during my childhood) is Atheist for me is as an Atheist,  I have zero doubts.  As an Agnostic, sometimes I had doubts (especially when confronted with unexpected situations or feelings, which opened the possibilities of mysticism).  

[jkjk]

^^  I really should look it up, but I'm lazy. I think Ricky's idea is that everyone is agnostic because none of us can really know. We can believe in God or not, but we can't know with absolute certainty.

 

(this is his theory)