Have You Ever Chosen Ignorance?

I spent over thirty years thinking my beliefs defined me and felt the same about everyone else. I was so sure of this that I never even questioned it.

It all changed a couple of months ago when I read a book that shook me and took me out of that mental prison.

In his book Think Again, psychologist Adam Grant writes:

Most of us are accustomed to defining ourselves in terms of our beliefs, ideas, and ideologies. This can become a problem when it prevents us from changing our minds as the world changes and evolves. Our opinions can become so sacred that we grow hostile to the mere thought of being wrong, and the totalitarian ego leaps in to silence counter-arguments, squash contrary evidence, and close the door on learning.

Well, that’s fucking scary. I couldn’t stop thinking about it, especially the last part: “Close the door on learning.” That would mean choosing ignorance. Willingly!

I started questioning myself. Midnight, eyes open in real fear:

Have I ever chosen (consciously or unconsciously) to ignore evidence to cling to an idea? Have I ever been that afraid of being wrong? If so, why did I do it?

Then I remembered myself in my twenties when I was in college studying with similar-minded people and learning from many similar-minded professors who shared the same political views I heard at home. For years, I wasn’t exposed to many ideas that were radically different from mine—or at least they were never presented to me as ideas worth taking seriously.

So, later on, when I met people from opposite sides of the political spectrum, I had an idea of them so rigid, so fully formed already in my head, that agreeing with them, even in tiny things, felt like jumping to the wrong side of history.

Also, changing your mind in certain circles was interpreted as incoherent; being moderate meant being lukewarm. I feared agreeing with people I had only heard and read terrible things. Agreeing with them could break my identity, the pillars of who I was or thought I was. I was afraid of being perceived as one of them. I see now that I was dragged to the dark side of polarization. Well, it’s not that there is a bright side to that.

“I was young and insecure,” I thought after remembering those years. I went to bed in peace, thinking that when we all grow up and gain confidence and experience, we become more open to changing our minds and even agreeing with people who are very different from us. And learn from them, too. After all, today, I can agree with people I wouldn’t even listen to when I was young.

But I opened a few newspaper websites on my laptop the following morning.

Holly shit. A few thousand politicians are still in their twenties. But that is a story for another day.

It is a relief not to be attached to beliefs and ideas and know you can change your mind even regarding deep and complex issues such as political views.

You might be thinking: “Alright, that’s cool, but if I don’t attach my identity to my ideas and beliefs, then where?

According to Grant, the answer to that is values. In his words:

Who you are should be a question of what you value, not what you believe. Values are your core principles in life -they might be excellence and generosity, freedom and fairness, or security and integrity. Basing your identity on these kinds of principles enables you to remain open-minded about the best ways to advance them.

This is not only to be open-minded. It’s to be free.

How wonderful.

This story is also available on Medium:

https://medium.com/illumination/have-you-ever-chosen-ignorance-fa014a694793