There is a particular kind of pride that attaches itself to consistency. Holding the same opinion for a long time can feel like integrity, like evidence of a person who thinks carefully and doesn’t bend to pressure. Sometimes that’s true. Quite often, it isn’t. Quite often, it’s just stubbornness wearing integrity’s clothes.
Why we resist updating our beliefs The psychological term is cognitive dissonance, the discomfort produced when new information conflicts with something we already believe. The mind’s instinct is not to update the belief but to discredit the information. We look for flaws in the source, emphasize contradicting evidence, and surround ourselves with people who already agree with us. It is an efficient system for staying comfortable and a terrible one for getting things right.
The identity problem The deeper issue is that most people attach their beliefs to their sense of self. To be wrong about something you’ve held publicly and confidently is not just an intellectual error. It feels like a personal one. The belief becomes part of the identity, and updating it requires admitting that the previous version of you was mistaken, which is a thing most people will go to considerable lengths to avoid. The philosopher Daniel Dennett observed that the secret of a good life is to treat your past self as a different person, one you can learn from without being imprisoned by.
What it actually looks like Changing your mind well is not the same as being swayed by every new argument or caving to social pressure. It is the result of genuine engagement with evidence, a willingness to follow a line of thinking even when it leads somewhere inconvenient. Adam Grant, in Think Again, makes the distinction between a preacher defending their beliefs, a prosecutor attacking others’, and a scientist updating their hypotheses based on what the data actually says. The third mode is the hardest to sustain and the most useful to develop.
The people who do it well The most intellectually trustworthy people are usually those who can point to something significant they used to believe and no longer do, and explain why. That capacity for revision is not a sign of a weak mind. It is a sign of one that prioritizes accuracy over appearance. It also tends to make people better company, more curious, less defensive, and more genuinely interested in what you think rather than in winning the exchange.
The practice Seek out the strongest version of the argument you disagree with, not the weakest. Ask yourself, sincerely, what it would take to change your mind on something you currently hold with confidence. Notice the beliefs you feel most resistant to examining. Those are usually the ones most worth looking at.
Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash.
