Back And Forth

I think people generally assume that when we have a particular view on a subject now, it would not change over time. People give politicians a lot of flak for being inconsistent over certain issues and I can see why they might be upset. When someone running for office changes his stance, it could be misconstrued as trying to win over voters and become unreliable. "Is he saying that just to get my vote?"

But people do change their views, even without external influence. It's understandable that, say when perhaps someone bears children who develop mental retardation, their views on mental retardation would definitely change. But one thing people do not seem to understand is that people can in fact change their views without being influenced by anything. 

I believe it is human nature to be questioning. To be curious, if that's how you like it. And we, as the curious human beings that we are will apply that same attitude not only to others but also to our own viewpoints.

Something that I have noticed pretty often is that while some people do admit that they have "struggled" with a particular belief in the past, having gone back and forth several times, they inadvertently come back to the same conclusion that they have always held. I have never encountered or even heard about a single person who after much deliberation with himself, come to the opposite conclusion.

Sometimes when I see someone (usually politicians because they're the easiest to spot) stick to their guns and maintain their stand in spite of overwhelming evidence, I can't help but feel like he never really thought it through.

A fool thinks himself to be wise, but a wise man knows himself to be a fool. 

Anyone who has given any serious amount of thought understands that there are serious flaws in his beliefs, and he believes it because the alternative has even more flaws. He who thinks knows that he could be wrong.

I think it is easy for people to remain absolute when they do not think about that particular topic much. Like me, for example. I like to think that in the abortion debate, I am a pro-choice person. But I never had to make that particular choice, nor anyone else around me. I used to believe that abortion shouldn't be taken off the table because a woman has a right to choose. To me, at that time, it was very simply an issue of choice, that one should not take a person's right to choose away from her. Abortion is more than that. It is about life. It is a very difficult question and even when I picture my hypothetical sister or girlfriend or wife making that choice (sorry, I just can't picture myself with such a responsibility as being pregnant), I, even hypothetically, am totally and utterly void of any coherent thoughts. I cannot think logically at that point, not even when I place myself at that hypothetical level.

How hard must it be for someone to deal with that?

The thoughts in this post was a lot more logical in my mind. I got distracted and by the time i got to writing it, which is only like 10 minutes later, it just became a string of vaguely connected points. Sorry if you read all the way and still have no idea what I wanted to say. I kind of forgot too.