Why you need to re-think your deeply held beliefs

A few months back I read a new book by Adam Grant called Think Again (aff).

In this book, Adam’s theory is that re-thinking our beliefs will actually make us right more often.

I found the book extremely interesting and it made me reexamine a few things for myself.

Here are a few techniques for rethinking your opinions.

Fix your mindset

Rethinking starts with being willing to rethink.

It’s acknowledging internally that you want to be challenged.

It’s going through life with an opens to new ideas.

Decouple your identity from your opinions

So many of our opinions are wrapped up in our sense of self. Two great examples are political parties and sports teams.

When these become part of our identity, we’re unable to separate our opinion from our identity.

That means to admit we’re wrong we have to damage our identity.

If someone’s identity is wrapped up in their opinion, always be hesitant to accept it at face value.

Embrace doubt

When we embrace doubt, it opens us up to being wrong. If we’re willing to be wrong, it becomes easier to accept new information and evaluate it fairly.

When you’re comfortable with doubt, it takes you from an offensive or defensive posture to a posture of curiosity.

Seek out opinions you disagree with

This is something I really enjoy doing. First, it helps me understand their argument.

When I listen, I’m actually seeking to understand and not to disagree. This posture helps me view things from their perspective.

This means I view them as human and can empathize with them. This is soooo needed in our politics.

It also helps me incorporate any views I’d misinterpreted into my belief.

Persuasion is not done through convincing. So, another benefit of listening, is that it helps me see their motive. Once I understand their motive, I can speak to that. Not to convince, but to ask questions and flesh out the underlying issues.

Wrapping up

The idea behind rethinking isn’t to get to you to change all your opinions.

But scientifically, it has been proven that your willingness to rethink actually makes you right more often.

Your opinion may stay the same, but the new information helps fill out your mental model on the issue.

There is actually a negative correlation between confidence and knowledge on an issue. As you get more information, you should become less sure of your belief. It isn’t that you doubt your belief, but this mental flexibility allows you to see other avenues.

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