What have you changed your mind about in the past year?

[drwex]

I'm not swayed by arguments based on faith, can be moved by good logic, but am always swayed by a good experiment, even if it goes against my scientific beliefs.

Mark Morford's column a couple weeks ago pointed to this Edge.org list of things about which people have changed their minds. These people are scientists, professors, and professionals well steeped in their careers and their beliefs. But still open to change.

I've only started reading the list and it's fascinating. So I wonder, dear readers, what have you changed your minds about?

Comments

[feste-sylvain.livejournal.com]

In the last year, I have been exposed to some celtic music which didn't sound like a bunch of untuned fiddles accompanying a drunk screaming into a microphone like a tortured goat. In fact, some of the music is pretty good.

Thanks to that, I am now willing to believe that there are Country & Western artists besides Johnny Cash who don't share those faults.

So I guess my previous position was held based on a sampling of data I had been told was representative, but which has since been shown not to be universal.

[cereselle.livejournal.com]

Hah. I have changed my mind about so many things, although to be fair, my previous beliefs were held because I was a sheltered child and I believed what my parents and teachers told me.

I no longer believe:

Masturbation is a sin
Homosexuality is a sin
Rock music is the devil's music
That one can become pregnant without intercourse or even removing one's clothes
In creationism
In Heaven (or an afterlife of any sort)
In religion

[drwex]

That's a lot of change for one year!

[cereselle.livejournal.com]

Oh, was this supposed to be over the course of a year? I thought it was in our lives.

[cutieperson]

cilantro. some olives that are not black and come sliced in a can. parmesan cheese.

[drwex]

Are these things you now like or that you've crossed off your list?

[cutieperson]

that i now like. oh, also, grilled fresh sardines.

[keyne.livejournal.com]

In the past year? I have no idea. Becoming open to voting for a certain political candidate I was fairly set against, maybe.

In the past, the most obvious example of changing my mind that jumps out at me is my attitude towards trans people. My reaction, at the tender age of 21, to hearing that an officemate's sibling was considering MTF surgery was "oh, he'll still be a man, just a mutilated one. How ridiculous." I got better, though!

[goddessfarmer.livejournal.com]

I can't think of much big that I've changed my mind about in the past year, but I have used my mind to change my feelings in a number of areas. The biggest one is guilt - I no longer feel guilty about not missing my mom after she died in April 2006. But that has only a little to do with facts changing, and a lot to do with how I feel about those facts. Yes, I got more information, but it surprisingly supported what I already thought. But knowing that I was not as biased as I had previously believed was a big relief.

[drwex]

That can be a hard thing to accept.

[gentlescholar.livejournal.com]

Many things in relationships with people.
The value of a travelling vacation.

I'm working on accepting the claim that I am too hard on myself, on the basis of the claim being volunteered by a trained professional independently of the claims made by many friends.

The idea that all evil is to be fought: some of it, I now suspect, can be used towards good ends. Still not comfortable with it, but I acknowledge that sometimes people's darker natures have been employed with superior results to fighting them.

[drwex]

Do you (now) think a traveling vacation is a good thing or a bad thing?

[gentlescholar.livejournal.com]

I used to think it was only mildly appealling, and nowhere near worth the expense and hassle--expense especially. It struck me as frivolous to spend that vast a sum on anything so transitory as a vacation.

But, income has expanded somewhat, and just as I can now forgive myself for spending $20 on a single meal (sometimes), I can accept the expense of a couple of thousand dollars every couple of years on a voyage to have fun, rest, and have new experiences. It still bothers me a bit--I'll never quite shake the feeling of poverty--but I'm willing to spend the money and go if it makes desert_born happy.

[taura-g.livejournal.com]

I have actually changed my mind on both politics and news.

I used to avoid both like the plague, voting only in big races and never listening to the news, just reading what I was interested in online or when the hubby forced me to listen to it on the morning commute.

The last year has found me taking more of an interest and listening to NPR not just when A is in the car. It has also seen me take a much more active/proactive interest in politics this year, even registering to vote in the Primary for the first time ever.

I can't really say exactly what has caused these changes, but almost certainly they have been at least partially influenced by how news & politics savy my group of friends is.

[drwex]

Good on you. The kids complain about how much NPR I inflict on them in the car, but it's my one major broadcast news source.