If you think you're always right...

It seems counterintuitive, but if you're trying to be more open, you need to be careful when taking a defensive stand. Indeed, it is a decisive step towards a change of mind.

The way you think it's probably wrong. If you have just felt a sense of disappointment by reading this sentence, you are not alone: It is common enough for people to be convinced that they are always right even when they are wrong.

“People were naturally created for” thought as soldiers “, which means protecting their ideas and beliefs from anything that could threaten them,” explains rationality expert Julia Galef.

As a result, people tend to associate with other people who share ideas and beliefs. In essence, people are not as open to new ideas as they think.

Why is it so difficult to think beyond your prejudice?

There are many reasons: it's just a smaller cognitive effort to hear and think about what we've already accepted. The second reason is that people are social beings so it makes sense that we want to associate with others we wholeheartedly agree with”, Galef said.

“corrupt automatically. Sometimes it's just demographics, such as country or race, but often we are also grouped by the similarity of beliefs. So when someone plays on your arm, it's like cheering for an ordinary group of people with the same mind”, she said. As a result, she adds that when someone speaks against your group, you may at times feel offended.

Finally, there is the emotional side of human faith. People usually adapt their beliefs to their identity. And according to Galef, overcoming this natural instinct requires a certain emotional effort.

How can we overcome this?

Although faiths are deeply rooted in people, there is still a way to change them. It's not easy, but you can:

1. First, a person should be known when it is unilateral

The first step, Galef says, is to notice when passion obscures judgment. Of course, passion itself is not bad. It's okay if you get excited for any reason and you want to spread the word!

However, there is a thin line between passion for something and a combination of this passion and identity. As mentioned earlier, combining the two can make it very difficult to accept another opinion.

How do you know when you crossed this threshold?

When you feel that any criticism of your chosen thinking or lifestyle is actually a personally directed criticism of you”, Galef explains. When that happens, it is important to take a little break and consider why you associate your beliefs with your identity.

2. Think of your past

It seems counterintuitive, but if you're trying to get more open, you should remember the times when you took a defensive stand. Indeed, it is a decisive step towards a change of mind.

If you don't notice that you think as a soldier, it's not because you're an exception. The point is you're basically not aware of yourself. If you can't be honest with yourself and admit to yourself that you feel protective or that it's just important for you to push down someone else's opinion how can you expect to interact with others in an intellectually honest way?”

“An important part of self-awareness is attention to the current results and the way you really behave”, Galef said.

After considering all situations in which you were a host, Galef says that you can then discern which situations you've acted on as a scout and investigate and verify what is said and decide to accept or deny someone's claims based on reflection. In what situations have you accepted someone else's opinion and revised your views?

Can you think of an example when it turned out to be wrong?

“Search for examples in which you have demonstrated a” military mind “will become much easier for you and you will discover the situations in which you acted as a scout,”

3. Seek different perspectives with people with whom you have something in common

You may already have heard of the counsel that is good for you to communicate with people who have a different experience of things from you. However, says Galef, the question is not to completely change your mind now, from black to white, but to find someone with whom to expand your knowledge and prove your beliefs.

If you communicate with an unreasonable person whose beliefs are completely opposite of you, you will likely take an even stronger stand and remain in what you believe, she explains.

I think it's best to get into a conversation with people who seem thoughtful and reasonable or those who look good and loving to you. You have to listen to people like this and even ask them what you missed. They are asked to explain their side and listen to yours, only then will the fertile land be created for a change in perspective.

End

Being really open to new ideas is much harder than it seems, especially since there are many ways to prove your prejudices, writes MindBody Gren.

It takes much work for a person to decide to listen neutrally to the beliefs of other people and to start thinking about them and eventually accept different opinions from his own or to change his beliefs if there is a basis for doing so.