Stephen Monrad

I just finished reading the book How We Decide. On page 204 Lehrer cites a study that found that 90 per cent of the people in the study didn’t change political affiliations between 1965 and 1982. This is surprising because those years were tumultuous: Vietnam war, fall of Nixon, stagflation.

This observation that people rarely change their political leanings once they reach adulthood rings true with me. I know that my opinions haven’t changed in the 17 years that I have been able to vote. It seems that once people make up their minds on issues like politics, they are immune to argument and evidence.

This is also true in religion. Those with strong faith tend to maintain their faith. Atheists only rarely become believers. Again, argument and evidence have little effect.

One of my biggest fears is that people’s views on economics is like this too. Some people like free markets. No matter what I say or do, they will maintain their beliefs. I’m not actually criticizing these sorts of people as being stubborn. I’m equally guilty. I don’t like free markets and am also unlikely to change my mind.

The problem is that productive discussions about economics aren’t possible if people are mainly defending their beliefs. I’m not sure how to do it, but I have to somehow find a way to circumvent people’s strongly held opinions (or change my own perhaps).