The statement above is usually (mis)attributed to economist John Maynard Keynes (1883-1946). Many – if not most – facts are time-boxed. A famous example is the 1609 controversy on heliocentrism: does the Earth rotate around the Sun (eg, Galileo Galilei) or vice versa (ie, the Roman Catholic Church)?
Not changing your mind when the facts change, reveals the existence of a belief. Our (micro) beliefs are part of (macro) belief systems. In 2015, I developed my concept that I named the 7 Belief systems (2016 original versus 2019 update). Our beliefs are much stronger than any fact (eg, my 2016 blog).
A belief is not necessarily wrong: many of Albert Einstein‘s (scientific) beliefs and opinions have been proven as facts after his death.
Karl Popper (1902-1994) had another perspective, which avoided labelling something as right or wrong:
- absolute truths (ie, always true regardless of time and/or space dimensions);
- objective truths (eg, facts, known-knowns);
- subjective truths (eg, beliefs, opinions, unknown-knowns).
In our Western societies, subjective truths seem all that matter (eg, climate change, Covid-19, Russia as victim, sexual and gender identity, Ukraine as nazis). Bridging opinions by adding a micro (ie, individual) and/or a macro (ie, society as a whole) focus hardly helps to find a compromise.
How, When and Why did we lose our interest in compromising?
Over time, our societies have evolved from cooperation towards competition due to the usual suspects (eg, freedom, globalism, gender & identity, inequality, liberalism, secularisation, urbanisation).
I think, feel and believe that the solution is in my recent blog: How to restore togetherness in a society?
At a macro level, we are witnessing immense efforts for renewed cooperation (eg, European Political Community-2022). The common motive seems to be that the enemy of my enemy (ie, Russia) is my friend. I fail to see similar efforts at a micro level. Possibly, there will be a trickle-down effect.
The key to Change is believing that we need and/or want it; see my blogs on Needs, Wants & Beliefs.
Change (1991) by Lisa Stansfield
artist, lyrics, video, Wiki-artist, Wiki-album, Wiki-song
If I could change the way I live my life today
I wouldn’t change a single thing
‘Cos if I change my world into another place
I wouldn’t see your smiling face
Note: all markings (bold, italic, underlining) by LO unless in quotes or stated otherwise.
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