Falling Down the Hole and Coming Up Again

[SezMe]

Edge (http://www.edge.org) is running a series about people who have changed their minds. There is a really nice story here (http://www.edge.org/q2008/q08_13.html) by Susan Blackmore. Recommended (it's a quick read).

Lo, if we could only make this required reading for joining the fora.

[jimtron]

Thanks for posting this!

Brian Eno's contribution (http://www.edge.org/q2008/q08_12.html#eno) is great; here's an excerpt:
Thus began for me a long process of re-evaluation. I had to accept that I was susceptible to propaganda, and that propaganda comes from all sides — not just the one I happen to dislike. I realised that I was not by any means a neutral observer, that I came with my own set of prejudices which could be easily tweaked.
I realised too that I had to learn to evaluate opinions separately from those who were giving them: the truth might sometimes come out of a mouth I disliked, but that didn't automatically mean it wasn't the truth.

[SezMe]

jimtron suggests a widening of this thread from my OP which I like. Consider the many interesting posts on the edge web site related to changing of minds and let's bring it back here. What have YOU changed your mind about?

I'll start.

I was once a proponent of term limits at the federal, state and local levels. "Throw the bastards out" was a motto I bought into. I have now rejected that notion. It's too simplistic. Whether a pol should be re-elected is not solely determined by how long he has held that seat.

Or stay with the OP as you see fit.

[krelnik]

I used to think libertarianism was a good idea. But the more I thought about it, the more I thought of real-world scenarios where a pure free market scenario would not do the right thing, and people would get seriously hurt. Now I really can't see how it would be practical.

I still believe in trying to minimize the amount of government, but I think most libertarians are "woo" in their blind faith in the free market to solve any problem.