“How does one change someone’s mind?”
As in the past, some of the best blog topics come from friends via email.
This question, “How does one change someone’s mind?” was asked in the context of the current COVID debate. However, it spurred a much longer, deeper discussion about changing minds involving sketches and diagrams.
I realized in this discussion, I have spent near professional life and grad school attempting to understand how people form and change their political opinions so that I may affect on their political behavior. I find the topic compelling.
Therefore, I thought I would turn that discussion into a more in-depth discussion of changing minds.
I will break it up into a three part discussion:
- How opinions are formed.
- How opinions are maintained and reinforced.
- How opinions change.
In those three topics – there is a lot of research to unpack, and I will do my best to do so. I will also spend some time talking about the digital sphere and its effect on these three areas.
I will also spend some time discussing the difference between changing someone’s opinions and changing their behavior(s).
It should be interesting, and I welcome your feedback and questions.
