How enmeshed are we in our own views? Are we really capable of changing our minds – at least about anything important?
Today it seems that impartial analysis of data has been replaced by uninformed opinion. Expertise has been devalued, making any opinion as good as any other opinion.
Recent studies indicate that instead of hearing facts – and then making decisions based on facts, people are much more likely to seek out information sources that reinforce conclusions that they already have reached. We tend to live in our own information bubbles – bubbles that exclude contrary information. Our information isolation is so profound that it takes an extraordinary event to get us to change our minds.
I began thinking about this, more than I usually do, after an exchange on one of the list-serv’s that I belong to (one o my self-reinforcing sources of information?). Someone posted a thread about an article by Michael Shermer, a nationally known freethinker, author of several books, and publisher of Skeptic Magazine.
Shermer, a committed Libertarian, wrote about how he changed his mind on Gun Control and Climate Change when he finally was able to look objectively at evidence. It is a good article and I recommend it. You can read the article here.
In this article Shermer wrote about presenting his new conclusions in panel debates at a recent Libertarian conference. His opinions were met with outrage and hostility. Shermer laments the closed mindedness of many at the convention, while acknowledging that he recently shared those views.
Previously he was lost in a bubble of self-selected information that only served to reinforce his Libertarian predilections.
Another member of the list-serv challenged some views that Shermer had presented in the past concerning the Libertarian position that free market unrestrained Capitalism is the best method of reducing poverty. He suggested that an objective, scientific analysis of Capitalism would also undermine Shermer’s position and reveal a direct relationship between unregulated Capitalism and inequality and health problems. This is what the science, the facts demonstrate.
I do not know if this thread has reached Michael Shermer and caused him to re-evaluate another of his beliefs.
Perhaps we open up our minds one idea at a time.
As a human being I also exhibit this problem of filtering out information that disagrees with my conclusions and choices. For me, this was illustrated again this very afternoon at the weekly meeting of the Ethical Humanist Society of the Triangle.
Today’s meeting was a joint potluck with the Triangle Vegetarian Society. In addition to the potluck, the meeting included a panel presentation, with three members from each group, addressing the two or three most important issues facing the world today. The panel members gave a very well informed and thoughtful presentations.
Unsurprisingly, the environmental, economic, and health benefits of a vegetarian or vegan diet were brought up. Shifting to a plant based diet would address world food and environmental problems. The massive meat production industry is inhumane and cruel to animals. These facts are true and supported by a scientific evaluation of the evidence.
This is not my first exposure to these ideas. This is something like the 12th annual EHST/TVA potluck.
So, I know all of these things and have know them for some time now. But I do not act. I rationalize, and try not to think too deeply about it:
– I get all of my meat from the local farmer’s market.
– I need to finish up with my Paleo diet before I can consider changing.
– It's so hard for just me to change in my household.
Are these are good excuses or just more avoidance?
Like Michael Shermer, I will try to open my mind to new evidence, but it is not always an easy or successful endeavor.
