Most of us probably like to think of ourselves as open-minded people who are willing to change our minds when presented with compelling evidence.
Of course, it’s all too easy to get stuck in our ways. But are there things you really have changed your mind on? A question on the topic led to some interesting conversation over on r/AskReddit.
Minimum wage
“Minimum wage. I’ve always had the misguided belief that raising the minimum wage was bad for businesses. What I failed to realize is that there’s a whole sector of the population that are only paying for rent, food, public transportation. Those people need to be buying homes, cars, furniture, which helps the overall economy and increases the tax base. $15/hour barely covers necessities.”
Evolution
“I’ve been homeschooled into a highly religious environment, so evolution was seen as this wack theory to try to get people to leave Christianity. Now that I understand it, it’s actually really, really cool and one of my favorite things I’ve learned about. After getting outside sources on that and physics and linguistics and cosmology and lots of other stuff (I know, I’m a huge nerd) I changed my mind on every one of them, to be more accurate to how it actually is.”
Self entitlement
“I used to think I was above the menial jobs that I held when I was younger and that I was destined for something great and blah blah blah. Now I realize that all jobs are necessary and responsibility is what makes the world work.”
– u/Orbx
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Vaccines
“My mom has always been an anti-vaxxer, so I grew up with all the propaganda. Once I moved out and had to get all my vaccines for my job, I did my own research and learned the truth.”
Nuclear energy
“There is one thing most people forget about nuclear energy. There’s the fact that the waste is 90+% renewable. The Swedes actually recycle their NW and use it in combination with renewable energies like water. The US and other countries do not recycle the waste because it’s ‘too costly.'”
Same-sex relationships
“I ‘knew’ that the Bible said it was wrong (fewer times than it said divorce was wrong). In college I actually met a lesbian for the first time. I had known them for months before I found it out though, so my brain was confused. ‘But they’re normal! But they’re gay! So does that change anything? How does that affect me? Wait . . . That doesn’t affect me? So then what is the issue?'”
Climate change
“Looking at the evidence it’s clearly a hoax. Just kidding, I was a firm denier until I had to do an assignment proving or disproving it in high school. Realized I couldn’t find any decent source to back up my claim. Basically changed my mind on the spot.”
Homelessness
“I used to have no patience or empathy thinking that if they really wanted to change their circumstances they could find the resources. My mind changed when I began working with special education children and realized most of these people probably have specific learning disabilities that our school system/their families failed to identify or help them with.”
GMOs
“GMO is really just a method to design a plant to do something you want it to do. There can be bad GMOs, and there can be good GMOs. It’s not about the method, it’s about what you choose to do with it. We’ve been modifying crops for thousands of years to suit our purposes. This is just a more efficient way to do that.”
Declawing cats
“I thought it was, as the title suggests, just removing the claw. No biggie, right? I’d do that to myself if I was scratching up furniture accidentally with my sharp ass nails.
TURNS OUT THEY TAKE THE WHOLE TIPPY TOE.”
Assistance in dying
“I was against it, but after seeing my uncle suffer with extreme rheumatoid arthritis for a few years before eventually dying from it, I’m all for it now. If we put down our pets when they’re suffering, why can’t we do the same to our humans with their written consent?”
Horse racing
“I come from an area that takes great pride in it. I’ve recently learned more about it and feel that it is animal abuse. They are shot up with steroids and other drugs and die more often than you would even think.”
Therapy
“I used to think that receiving therapy is for the mentally ill, weak etc. I don’t have ‘problems’ therefore I don’t need therapy. But after recent events in 2021 with certain people I tried therapy and after a few sessions it just revealed some baggage I wasn’t even aware of.”
Disc golf
“Disc golf is dangerous.
At first, it seems like a fun time to get outside or spend time with friends. Next thing you know, you own 600 discs, are watching Jomez during every second of spare time you can find, and are playing tournaments every weekend.”
Weightlifting
“Lifting weights doesn’t make you ‘bulky’ as a woman and is one of the best things you could do for yourself not only in terms of body composition but in terms of posture, activities of daily living, mobility, joint/bone health, etc. It changed my entire life.”
Addiction and mental health
“Empathy for the choices people make when they are not able to fully control themselves (i.e. addiction, mental health crisis/episodes). Having personal experience on both the receiving and giving ends really deepened my empathy and understanding that allows me to have a more nuanced and individualized approach to these kinds of things now.”
Hard work
“I had a supervisor that would always tell me that his job was training me for his job. I bought into that for years, until I realized that I do not have the temperament for supervising people. I then just concentrated on doing my own job as well as I could.”
Roundabouts
“Based on all the complaints, I assumed they were confusing and unnecessary. When my city put in a bunch, I realized that I no longer had to wait 3 minutes at all of the punishment lights. Love roundabouts now. …Of course that didn’t stop the older population of the city from trying to have them removed. One guy even ran for city council on the platform that he would immediately put the stoplights back in. Change is hard, I guess.”
Social media
“I worked for an agency selling social media services to clients and I had to learn about it. The more I learned, the less I wanted to work with social media. It’s a cesspool of lies, fraud and illegal activities.”
Sobriety
“Being sober, took an eightish year landslide to one of the darkest places I’ve been in my life and not once in those eight years you could of talked me into putting down the bottle of whiskey that was glued to my hand. Been sober coming up on five years now and I couldn’t think of being anything other than sober. I won’t sit here and say it’s not easy, it is honestly one of the hardest things I have to deal with on a consistent basis. But the rewards are priceless.”