Why is it so hard for us to change our minds (even if we know we could be wrong) – we all want to think we stand firm for the things we believe in – beliefs are really important – none of us want our friends and family too see us as ‘flip floppers’.
Perhaps, there’s a difference between rethinking a topic, and flip flopping – flip flopping is changing one’s mind because it’s convenient – it may suit an immediate need to flip – or we may not actually change our minds, and we tell people what they expect to hear due to peer, social, political pressures (without honestly reconsidering a topic) – by doing this, we risk deliberately discarding consideration for accuracy, substance, equitability, and perhaps truth.
Rethinking, on the other hand, involves confirming a belief by way of genuine validation – it requires an effort for the sake of truth, despite external pressures – it requires investing sweat equity to increase the value of our belief, and for the greater good of more than just ourselves.
I recently learned that we typically fall into three modes reference our views of a topic:
Preacher mode = defending a view that we already hold (justified or not).
Prosecutor mode = attacking someone else’s views (with or without merit).
Politician mode = we only listen to people if they agree with our views (with or without validation).
We seldom fall into any version of verification modes:
“I need to do research” mode.
“What is the source for that” mode.
“Is that really a Biblical, or Constitutional or truth” mode.
All three of these modes make it hard to ‘rethink’ because we’ve already concluded that we’re ‘right’ and the other person is ‘wrong’ – we’ve jumped to the position that our cognitive work is done – even if we’ve made no real intellectual, Spiritual, rational investment on a topic – sadly, in many cases, we’re simple holding fast to a position that we just heard from someone else without examining to topic.
We would all agree that facts are important (I hope this is true) – there is no substitute for truth and accuracy – in order for a fact to be a fact, it requires truth and accuracy – these should be required ingredients before we decide about holding fast to a topic – so why is it so hard for us to even consider whether or not our position is based on facts (truth and accuracy)?
Truth and accuracy impower us to avoid anger, blaming, or shaming as a method of accountability – and help us lean into love, grace, and respect as a method of clarity and inclusion – the baseline topic requires the work to validate our belief with truth and accuracy.
Our nation is fiercely divided on many topics – we are angrily aligned with many of these topics – are we sure about the truth and accuracy we associate with each of these topics?
Being honest with ourselves carries great weight – don’t miss out.
Kevin's Thoughts 