Monday, March 22, 2010

How do people change strongly held views?

Yelling at them that they are wrong does not help. But, that is not much of an insight, and it does not stop most of us reverting to that...

I found this article Why I am not a Creationist (anymore) from First Things interesting, particularly the following quote:

.... I began enjoying the intellectual freedom of reading. It started with a few classic novels and swelled into a multi-disciplinary interest. I started thinking more clearly and became more analytical of my surroundings and beliefs.

One might say that reading brought me out of creationism. No wonder I was taught a fear of books outside the Bible and orthodox theology.

2 comments:

  1. How do people change strongly held views? In my own experience a life-changing event that took me to the depths. I was changed - people I'd known for a long time could perceive some change but inside I felt I'd been completely turned around. Faith in God is now much more important to me too.

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  2. This man's experience is remarkably similar to my own. Thanks for the link.

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