The Edge has a great question this year:
"What have you changed your mind about?"
Read the answers of their respondents, all science types, starting here -- but be prepared to lose yourself in these comments. They're really, really good. For example, the science writer Colin Tudge writes about how he's come to distrust the intellectual arrogance of scientists. He uses as an example the debate over genetically-modified crops to talk about how the wisdom of tradition is foolishly neglected by experts who have an unwarranted confidence in humankind's ability to control things:
Eventually the penny may drop — that the benison of the trial plot over a few years cannot necessarily be transferred to real farms in the world as a whole. But by that time the traditional crops that could have carried humanity through will be gone, and the people who know how to farm them will be living and dying in urban slums (which, says the UN, are now home to a billion people).Behind all this nonsense and horror lies the simplistic belief, of a lot of scientists (though by no means all, to be fair) and politicians and captains of industry, that science understands all (ie is omniscient, or soon will be) and that its high technologies can dig us out of any hole we may dig ourselves into (ie is omnipotent).
Rather than debate other people's changes of mind in the comboxes, I'd like to invite my readers to answer the question themselves below.
As for myself, obviously I've had some political changes of mind in the wake of the Iraq War debacle, and a religious change of mind that occasioned my leaving Catholicism. I've detailed them on this blog. But to answer this question, the most fundamental change, at least for me, is that I ceased to believe in the sufficiency of reason as a guide to, well, life. To be sure, I never was a pure rationalist, but I had an unwarranted faith in the ability of logical thinking based on sound principles to keep things on the right path.
What I hadn't counted on -- and this is what unites my mind-changing on the political and religious fronts -- is the ability of people who profess the right things to deceive themselves, and to sleepwalk into destructive folly, and to allow unspeakable evil to thrive. Mind you, any student of history could have predicted this, but it's one thing to read about it in books, or to see people with whom you don't identify philosophically fall into error. It's quite another to live it. Similarly, I had supreme confidence in my own ability to use rationality to defend my convictions against any challenge. I learned that emotions, because they help guide the will, are far more powerful motivators of thought and conduct than I had previously understood.
Let me be clear: it's not that I demean rationality. Far from it. It's only that I once believed that what a man believed was the most important thing about him. Now I believe it's what a man does. And along those lines, that being right means little or nothing if you don't love. Rationality that's not guided by love (which entails humility) is empty, and even a trap.
None of this should have come as a surprise to me, but it damn sure did.
So, readers: What have you changed your mind about? I'd sure like to know how Andrew Sullivan, Patrick Deneen, Daniel Larison, Ross Douthat and Ramesh Ponnuru answer this question.
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Wow! Is this blog getting conservative or what!?
How unfortunate, Cleveland, that I was just about to post. Hey presto, once again you're in that skidding handbasket to Hell!
I've changed my mind about things too numerous to enumerate. A sample:
I used to think that corporal punishment of children was necessary . . . or, at least, acceptable in some way. I changed my mind about that over 30 years ago, when I looked into the eyes of my firstborn. It is abuse to slap, whip, spank, hit, cuff, jerk, shove, or scream at a child. It is abuse to do anything to your child that you wouldn’t dare do to a fellow adult. (With the possible exception of picking them up tenderly in your arms and carrying them away from the scene of a meltdown . . . but then, you probably couldn’t do that to an adult even if you dared!) I now believe the prevalence of such behavior is one of the prime causes of violence and harm in society.
I used to think I was a feminist, and quite a daring one, simply because I thought women should receive equal pay for equal work, and should be given an opportunity to prove we could do the work equally. I came to understand that I was not a feminist, but merely a tool of the patriarchy. I’ve changed my mind about that. Now I am a feminist.
I used to think I was not a racist. Understanding the real position of women in society forced me to understand, as well, the real position of people of color. Now I know that, just as a man occupies a position of male privilege in relation to women, whether he wants that or not, whether he acknowledges that or not, so I, as a white person, occupy a position of white privilege whether I want it or not. Even when black people dislike white people, that doesn’t put them in a reciprocal position with a white racist.
I used to think I had to hold my nose and vote Republican, no matter what, because by definition Democrats simply had to be worse. Two years ago, a rational, compassionate Democratic congressional candidate came to the door. I had a cordial conversation with her and realized that she was so much better than the bloviating stuffed shirt Republican on the other side. I could not in conscience deny the evidence of my own senses. I put a “Vote Democratic” yard sign up for the first time in my life. I then took a further step and voted against Rick Santorum. Wahoo! did that feel good. Suddenly there was more color in the sky and the air I breathed seemed fresher. There has been no going back.
I used to think it was necessary to go to Mass at an official Roman Catholic Church every Sunday, or be sent to Hell. I’ve changed my mind about that. I used to believe there was an actual omnipotent being who would throw me into a pit of fire for failing to attend the church service of His preference. I’ve changed my mind about that. Strangely, I still sometimes feel a pang of horror as I catch myself wondering if that irate Jehovah does exist after all. But I fear my own capacity for believing things that are patently insane more than I do this hypothetical deity.
I used to believe that Yahweh/Jehovah was categorically different from other gods worshipped by other people, and that the myths handed down about him held a unique, privileged position compared to other sacred writings. I’ve changed my mind about that. Some mythic writings may well be more “true” than others. To establish their relative value, however, one would have to examine them all with the same set of criteria.
I used to believe firmly that there was a God, and that although He technically “loved” me, He did not like me very much. Now I’m not so sure there is a God, but I think that if She does exist, She enjoys me and my antics and is quite fond of me.
I used to believe that people made decisions based on rational principles, exercising free will in doing so. I’ve changed my mind about that. Now I see that many of our reasons are in fact rationalizations for what we were going to do anyway, and that many of our choices are genetically and socially constrained to such a degree that there’s very little philosophical freedom involved. I think this is going to become more and more obvious as new technologies enable us to see deeper into genes and brain function.
I used to think conservatives were the good guys. I’ve changed my mind about that. And I have to thank many of the people on this blog for clarifying my thought. If you perceive this as an ambiguous compliment, you are indeed perceptive.
I used to believe there were heroes and saints I should not question because they were way better than me. Now I see them as human beings, sometimes with admirable characteristics, but never truly different from what I am--human. And many of them were similar to me in another way--they were NUTS. ; ) It's not safe to cultivate unquestioning devotion to any fellow human.
I used to think my uncles were just ignorant when they said that Republicans were not favorable to the working man. I changed my mind. They were working men; they knew whereof they spoke.
I used to believe that only Nazis and Communists brainwashed people, and that I was definitely not brainwashed myself. I changed my mind about that. I now see that it is surprisingly easy to brainwash people, and that it happens every day.
I have lost almost every certainty I’ve had in my life. What bothers me most, however, is not that loss, but the fact that I could have been so stupid for so long. The one thing I haven’t changed my mind about is that I exist for love's sake and I have to work hard at this. I may be wrong about that, too, but if so I will not find out until it's too late to change my mind.
I used to be disgusted. Now I try to be amused.
And since their wings have gotten rusted . . .
You know the angels want to wear my red shoes.”
""I've become far more cynical as regards the intelligence of the average voter."
Hey, Max, welcome to the club, good sir. [Took you a while, eh?]"
My dear Franklin,
For the record, that post was from someone calling hissef "Max Gladenfreude". A blatant name jack if there ever was one. There should be a rule somewhere that discurages such. O humanity!
Also for the record, I have NOT become more cynical as regards the intelligence of the average voter. The average voter does not possess an intelligence about which one might wax cynical.
Mr. Dreher, what's up with the name-jack around here anyways?
Damn, Max S, I'm sorry. That was a rookie mistake, not looking at the name of the person to whom I thought I was responding. There's no excuse for it. :-(
Cleveland, if the person being judged has not previously earned my respect, then I am disinclined to believe anything he says, one way or the other. That holds true for me especially in politics. The poster boy for the word oxymoron is a politician who holds himself accountable, no caveats, no evasions.
... well, that's not really fair. I happen to know a politician or two who has integrity, honesty, and the ability to sincerely own up to mistakes and attempt to make good on them. I think of them, though, as the exceptions that illustrate the rule.
Don't worry, Sig, a woman has a right to change her mind.
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