Learning and opinions

Published May 25, 2008

Photo: The ROM crystal. Can you spot me in the picture? Canon EOS 5D, 17-40@17, ISO100, f/8.0

A while back, I was enjoying a drink with a friend of mine at a local Starbucks. I remember that day because it was a rainy day and I tend to remember when I get stranded in places against my own will. Maybe it was because we were drinking coffee and were both on a caffeine high that we decided to get all introspective. Random thoughts were never out of place in our impromptu conversations so she asked me how I felt about the “consistency of a message” – more specifically whether I thought it was acceptable to have an strong opinion, then years later change your mind about it. In a sense you could almost say the question was about hypocrisy without the moral ground associated with such a word.

There is nothing more important than having an opinion. Your opinion demonstrates your value, your ground and your understanding of the issues that affect the world and how they relate to your life. In many ways, your opinion shows your personality and your contribution to society. What I find concerning about having an opinion though, is our society’s need to hold people to their opinions and their message as if our life itself was static.

As Ben Casnocha says in his article “Our obsession with consistency and hypocrisy”, we often find many politicians who are held up to their message of consistency. Ben says:

“How many times have you heard a politician say ‘I’ve advocated this view for more than 20 years, this is not just an election-day invention.’ I say if you’ve held an unchanged opinion for more than 20 years you are neglecting the duties of active citizenship, which calls for constant re-examination of yourself and the world around you.”

Now, politicians have an extended responsibility due to the fact that they would be elected based on their message. If they were to change that message after having taken office, that would likely cause public outlash. However, celebrities are so exposed in popular media and culture that we begin to have the expectation that as individuals, our opinions shouldn’t change – to have a sense of proper integrity we are expected to stay true to our initial beliefs and opinions.

I honestly believe that our opinions need to change. Experiencing life and learning from our mistakes is how we will grow as individuals. What may have seemed like a good way to approach an issue 5 years ago may not necessarily be the right approach today. We learn to adapt, change and similar to evolution our opinions should be a reflection of that ability to adapt.

Consistency of a message, of your opinion is key since it shows people you are standing your ground based on the experiences you’ve had up to that point in life. But to change your opinions afterwards based on a life experience or appropriate debate is not a weakness. It shows your ability to be open minded, to understand that the world is not black and white – that there are many different ways to come to a conclusion. It demonstrates your ability to comprehend the world and be humble enough to admit that as you grow, you still have much to learn.