Week 4 Topic: Change My Mind
In Lecture 15, we discussed the degree to which people in the United States have “meaningful attitudes”. You saw a variety of evidence that the public often tends to lack meaningful attitudes, in the sense that attitudes are often both unstable and highly sensitivity to the context in which issues are framed.
Much of the time, when people appear to “change their mind” on a given political topic, the change isn’t really conscious – they didn’t have a meaningful attitude at either time, and their answer in fact changes quasi-randomly in response to the most recent messages they’ve absorbed from the environment around.
Sometimes, however, we do have a meaningful attitude about something political, and we do actively change our mind away from that meaningful attitude. Being willing to change one’s mind in response to new evidence or argumentation is a basic requirement of a successful democracy, but we are often very resistant to such change. Nevertheless, most of us can recall at least an example or two of a major political position we have moved towards or away from over time.
Considering all of the above, your discussion topic for the week:
What is an example of something political that you have changed your mind about at some point in your life? In your post, you should consider much of the following:
You do not have to identify an instance in which you have completed switched from one side of an issue to the other side. An example, for instance, in which you changed from feeling very certain about something to far less certain or at least conflicted is perfectly acceptable.
Avoid the temptation to spend most of your post arguing for the truth value of your current belief, or the weakness of your prior belief. The point of this post is not to prove or disprove any particular political point – rather, the point is to allow others to see and think about examples of people changing their mind, and what that process might look like.
What prompted you to change your mind? Consider any number of factors that may have been involved.
How long did it take you to transition from one opinion to the other? Are you still in flux?
Are there any factors that you feel made you resistant to the change in opinion you were considering? In other words, can you recall influences that continued to push you away from the direction you started to lean in? What was your emotional state like as you changed your mind? Did you personally struggle with your feelings? Did you feel like you risked losing friendships or other aspects of social status?
Has your experience left you with any insights as to how people who hold the position you do now could more effectively communicate their ideas to people who feel as you used to feel?
Writing a good Discussion Post
Your post should be 6 sentences minimum. You are welcome (and encouraged) to write as much as you would like.
Your post should practice expressive writing. You should be primarily focused on trying to relate your experience to other people, not necessarily convince them to adopt your position. You have succeeded if your audience walks away from having read your post with a better understanding of your situation.
Try to avoid grammar/mechanical mistakes, and do your best do write in a way that flows nicely. In politics and elsewhere, people will ignore even a smart message if it is delivered in a sloppy manner.
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