May 18, 2025
I’ve often said to my kids that everyone is entitled to change their mind. In fact, it’s often encouraged under the appropriate circumstances. And while many of us wish to consider ourselves to be open minded, how often do we actually allow our opinions to be swayed? Whether it’s through an introspective discovery or by means of hearing someone else explain it, once we comprehend an idea in a way that makes sense to us, flipping the script on that idea seems asinine.
We’ve become very comfortable with our opinions, as they provide us with a sense of purpose and allow us to feel validated in the beliefs we have maintained. They also come in handy in carrying a conversation, and since the majority of people prefer to avoid conflict, we often end up seeking out conversations and experiences with those who share similar opinions to ours.
In this process, we tend to imitate and desire the company of people who are more like us, who share the same opinions that we have, who dress the way we like to dress, and who dish on all the same cuisine that we enjoy eating. This is all well and good, except that when we continually feed the impulse to belong to something that is easy for us to grasp and therefore “right”, it concurrently establishes: that which we fail to understand, is fundamentally “wrong”.
Further into this process, not only do we become increasingly predictable, we are doubling down on belief systems that cater to an identity we have cultivated through confirmation bias. The stronger and more prevalent the external influences are, the greater difficulty we have separating ourselves from the totality of the associated order.
Politics, for example, are nearly impossible to avoid, and to hold your head in the sand regarding these matters is often viewed as shameful or irresponsible. The establishment has been laying this groundwork for centuries, as we continually ponder the notion that “well, if I’m not with red and I’m not with blue, then I’d have to be a nobody”. So we adopt an entire set of customs, through factions with interests rooted in the party that we most closely “identify with”. In reality, we’ve purchased an entire collection of action figures only because it contains one or two of the characters we actually wanted or gave two shits about.
Four-Squared
For a brief period when I was in elementary school, some of the privileged children decided that you were either with Coke or with Pepsi. If your mom packed you the red can, you sat at one table and the blue can sat at a table on the opposite end of the cafeteria. There were pointless debates conducted, research methods and taste tests implemented, and at one point we even organized Coke versus Pepsi kickball games during recess to determine an outright winner and loser. Most of us probably thought it was just funny or confusing, but a few demonstratively stepped into the role.
This was very stupid for a lot of obvious and contemporarily relevant reasons, and looking back I wish I had never been cursed with unpacking a blue or red can in my lunch. The kids drinking RC Cola and juice boxes were not only playing Four Square at recess, but could also be perceived as the happiest students in the cafeteria, seemingly oblivious to this trivial sorting ritual, one that would follow us all into adulthood; for what was contained in these aluminum vessels stands to exist as both figuratively and literally, poison.
A lot of us initially formulate an opinion based on what we know we don’t like and go from there. As we weed out our aversions, it’s entirely plausible to move past them and simply discover what our preferences may be, without renouncing or debasing the other. Traditionally, however, it would appear as though we are less than capable of mastering this task, independently speaking.
It is a natural, primal instinct for humans to go with the herd, so it is understandable, to a degree, that we take the good with the bad when it comes to what our party or team or group or family stands for, with few exceptions. But this can easily develop into a toxic herd mentality, particularly when individuals refuse to alter their opinions out of a fear of being wrong or betraying the pack.
Modernity has complicated matters further, as we now institute a lack of trust in any value systems that don’t align with the one we have chosen to represent and serve. This is merely by design, as the powers that be (billionaires controlling politicians) can more easily manipulate a society that is divided, than one that is unified. In essence, they are literally banking on the probability that most of us will continue to covet our unwavering opinions.
Psilly Goose
When we refuse to change our minds out of sheer loyalty or laziness, there becomes an erosion of critical thinking and thus, progress. While politics plays a huge role in what we are exposed to, it has no true bearing on what we choose to consume or how we choose to think. Just because highway signs (in America) tell us which five fast food restaurants are located off every nearest exit, it doesn’t mean that these are the only places we can eat.
If we habitually follow these signs, we can rest assured that we are not only helping out a corporation in need of our business; we are solidifying the success of insurance rackets and medical/pharmaceutical companies and conglomerates whose profits are soaring as a result of the long term illnesses we endure from failing to think or act independently.
Following the herd these days is not the same as it was a thousand years ago, and to work against the grain of any establishment or social force can be daunting for reasons aforementioned. Of course, we all reserve this right to change our minds, but it still comes off as unnaturally difficult, because we all want to belong and to be accepted.
What I really mean by all of this is that we all reserve the right to change our opinions. Altering the mind, according to Michael Pollan or Deepak Chopra, could be achieved through psychedelics or transcendental meditation. Perhaps these are the practices we should be investing in, for it is no longer the herd that sustains life, but rather our own intuition and free will that keeps us moving forward.
We should all try starting there, take a deep breath and work towards an ego-less self that is capable of formulating thought patterns and beliefs that extend from humanism in its most basic and truest form. This is a clear path toward unification. My kids don’t take mushrooms, nor do they drink from the blue or red cans; but they are learning how to meditate. It’s a start.