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What would make you re-examine your views?  In our hyper-partisan climate where view points on virtually everything seem to be heavily embedded in our subconscious, what manner of evidence would persuade you to look upon a subject or ideology with a fresh pair of eyes?  Maureen Walsh discovered her switch in this video.

Many of us retain principles based not upon reasoned facts, but passionate emotional fervor.  It’s derivative of our religious beliefs or background, and how we extrapolate that to form decisions.

I find myself distressed at this thought however.  Absent a sort of attitudinal flexibility, we find ourselves waging a perpetual war of ideology with neither side giving one inch–or even failing to acknowledge those inches.

There are too many issues which illustrate this problem vividly.  All of them–income inequality, same-sex marriage, political division etc., showcase a dearth of intellectual honesty in how we apply factual statements to our beliefs.  Herein lies the problem with open, honest debate.  To ignore the ideas presented by the other side, to completely disavow them false, is to leave yourself hollow and uninformed.  Intellectual rigidity is not just wrong, it’s harmful to a free society.

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