[SEQ RERUN] We Change Our Minds Less Often Than We Think
Today’s post, We Change Our Minds Less Often Than We Think was originally published on 03 October 2007. A summary (taken from the LW wiki):
We all change our minds occasionally, but we don’t constantly, honestly reevaluate every decision and course of action. Once you think you believe something, the chances are good that you already do, for better or worse.
Discuss the post here (rather than in the comments to the original post).
This post is part of the Rerunning the Sequences series, where we’ll be going through Eliezer Yudkowsky’s old posts in order so that people who are interested can (re-)read and discuss them. The previous post was A Rational Argument, and you can use the sequence_reruns tag or rss feed to follow the rest of the series.
Sequence reruns are a community-driven effort. You can participate by re-reading the sequence post, discussing it here, posting the next day’s sequence reruns post, or summarizing forthcoming articles on the wiki. Go here for more details, or to have meta discussions about the Rerunning the Sequences series.
I agree with the mechanism described in this sequence but not necessarily with the title. It needs to be balanced with the fact that people who have actually changed their mind about something often edit their memories to believe that they always held their current view. I suspect people actually change their minds more than they think, not less.
(First sentence edited to actually make sense by adding the word “not”.)