Has anyone ever had their mind changed or opened up to a different point of view from reading another's post on a thread?

[Alte Veste Academy]

I do wish more posters wouldn't automatically assume negative things about those who hold opposing viewpoints. I'm more likely to discount their arguments, across all discussions.

 

Yes.

 

***Hypocrisy alert!***

 

I close my mind to the arguments of close-minded people. :tongue_smilie:

[Jayne J]

Absolutely.

[Guest submarines]

When I was pregnant with DD11 I thought that circumcision, CIO, vaccinations, strollers, etc were the norm. Granted I didn't have very strong opinions on them, but it was still what I was planning on doing. Sometimes during the pregnancy I read someone's post about attachment parenting, and then I did my own research, and my opinions were formed.

 

I don't think I changed a very strong opinion after reading a post. I have to think about it.

[TheAutumnOak]

Yes, my views on some things have changed since being on the boards...Life is a learning experience and I let everyone I know in real life know that I reserve the right to change my mind about anything I no longer agree with...Sometimes you are faced with a point of view or evidence that just makes sense...I would have to be a know it all or a fool to never change my mind about anything ;)

 

I know people who pride themselves on never changing, but I don't think that is a good thing or something to be proud of...Please learn something :p 

[LibraryLover]

Absolutely.

[I talk to the trees]

Oh, yes! I have had quite a few moments where I nod in agreement with one post, then read an opposing view and nod in agreement with that one, too! (Not sure if that makes me wishy-washy or flexible.)

[AlmiraGulch]

Yes.  Absolutely.  

 

I have learned more in the 5 or so years I've been reading and participating in the discussions on these boards than I can ever quantify.  Some things are silly, some have helped me educate my children in ways I would never have considered.  Some have helped me develop actual opinions and beliefs on topics that matter where I perhaps had been unwilling to commit to a point of view previously (that is to say, perhaps I hadn't taken the time to educate myself sufficiently on a topic and so I went with a default response that I'd just accepted and never questioned over the years).

 

I appreciate everyone here who take the time to participate, whether we agree on a topic or not.  I appreciate being educated and enlightened from all perspectives, but particularly those that are not my own.  It helps me to grow, and I consider myself a better person because of it. 

[Pam in CT]

Yes.

 

Also, note that even if the main “combatants†don’t appear convinced by each other’s arguments, the arguments may be reaching many lurkers. I once read a very articulate debater who said that they were arguing primarily for those who were NOT participating in the thread.

 

Loooooooongtime lurker (dating back to the original boards) weighing in:

 

True, this.

[OnTheBrink]

Yes and no. There are some issues I'll never change my mind about, no matter how eloquent the argument. But, I have learned a lot from posts here about all sorts of things and I've decided that I don't have to vehemently defend my pov on certain issues simply because they come up from time to time here. 

[mommymilkies]

Absolutely. It's not usually one moment, but sometimes a poster's comments provoke me to read up on a certain view, and this eventually leads me to come to agree or at least understand and respect the opinion.

 

This!

[Guest]

Yes.

 

Good grief, with the age difference in my children and the period of history we live in, I'd be a downright neglectful and abusive parent if I didn't!

 

 

[Mergath]

I've certainly come to see the people who hold opposing views to mine as people just like me, and that's something I had trouble with before.  It's easy to demonize the "other side" on different social issues when you never really get to know any of them.  Though sometimes knowing and caring for them makes the discussions more difficult, lol!  I want to say, "Look, I KNOW you're a kind, reasonable person, so how can you think that???" :P  I have definitely learned a lot from my time here, though.

[tshirtyogapantmama]

Totally. I hate to admit but I was very closed minded several years ago before I started reading posts on the forum. In the past 3 years posts, while not an active poster, I am an active and somewhat addictive reader. The forum has opened my mind to be tolerate, more compassionate, more humane...I've learned that people live differently, are raised differently, have different values and lifestyles and the reasons behind them...I've been personally swayed to view education, religion, social issues, parenting, and more all in a different light then I was raised or lived for the first 10 years of my marriage.

 

I am constantly telling my kids and husband of things on the forum and discussing them, sharing with them what others thought or ask about. When I am in need of advice on what type or printer to by or how to motivate my children or what to get my husband for Christmas the forum is the first place I go. I can't say that for any place else on the internet. It has given me a sense of community. 

[swellmomma]

yup.  My opinions don't get changed but seeing through the eyes of the "other side" sure has expanded my understanding of where they are coming from.  Instead of thinking "what an idiot, can they not see I am right" it is instead "oh I see, yeah that makes sense from their pov...even if they are still wrong" lol

 

There is a lot of things I had no opinion on because I simply never knew about them, I have learned a ton of new stuff on the forums that got me thinking and pondering and developing opinions, so they did not change anything about me, but they did introduce me to expanding my knowledge in one direction or another.

 

There has been times when it has gone the other way though.  Where things have been said/done (not right on the boards but privately) that have hurt me terribly and closed me off to ever considering a thing particular posters have to say.  Where once upon a time I felt them wise, I learned to take anything they say with a handful of salt and not trust at all.

 

On the whole my experiences with the forums have expanded my horizons, though not always in a positive way.

[Anne in CA]

Yes, I have. More than once. It is part of the reason I spend time here even though I am phasing out of my home schooling years.

[OneStepAtATime]

I just wish we could sometimes hang out in person, with a nice hot (or cold if its summer) beverage and just talk....there are so many really interesting people here.

[Susan C.]

I'm not sure if my mind was changed, or if, while reading other opinions, I got the courage to step out and believe/think what I already wanted to. Either way, I'm changed and I'm thankful.

[KrissiK]

I guess it depends. Regarding moral, political or religious things.... No. Although I think I have softened in my view towards certain actions people have taken after knowing the back story. I have no examples right now, unfortunately.

[myfunnybunch]

Absolutely. Not always completely, but changed nonetheless.

 

I appreciate those posters who post respectfully and logically, even if I do not agree with what they have to say. Often in reading the arguments of others, there are issues and viewpoints and experiences brought up that hadn't even occurred to me because they are outside my own experiences. Often if my own viewpoint isn't drastically changed, I still come to understand why others hold a different view.

 

I enjoy most the discussions which pull in people with a variety of opinions and experiences, because I learn so much from them.

 

Cat

 

 

[Alicia64]

I have many times. I give a lot of thought to opposing opinions. I'm more than okay with being wrong.

 

In fact, I often want to pm the person and say, "hey, I get what you're saying now" but I'm always nervous that it will come off as . . . well, wrong somehow.

 

Alley

[creekland]

I just wish we could sometimes hang out in person, with a nice hot (or cold if its summer) beverage and just talk....there are so many really interesting people here.

 

This would be awesome... but we'd probably need longer than an afternoon, esp if we could get oodles of folks there.  How about a week?  There are many I'd like to meet IRL.

[PeterPan]

This would be awesome... but we'd probably need longer than an afternoon, esp if we could get oodles of folks there.  How about a week?  There are many I'd like to meet IRL.

We have a board meet-up at the Cincy convention, and I'm assuming the other conventions do something similar.  So if someone wants to come, they can meet real-life boardies and hang out.  :D