During recent political campaigns I became disgusted by all of the absolute talk about the evils of flip-floppers. There is nothing wrong with a person studying, gaining more insight, and then changing his or her mind. This is an admirable trait.
I differentiate this from politicians who lie or distort their true opinions in response to the latest political polls so they can get elected. Chris From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Dr. Ernest Prabhakar Sent: Friday, October 19, 2012 11:12 AM To: Centroids Discussions Subject: [RC] People who were right a lot of the time Great Radical Centrist insight; not quite accurate as stated (some are just flaky, and we need some core convictions), but still a brilliant observation I've never heard stated before. -- Ernie P. http://37signals.com/svn/posts/3289-some-advice-from-jeff-bezos Some advice from Jeff Bezos Jeff Bezos stopped by our office yesterday and spent about 90 minutes with us talking product strategy. Before he left, he spent about 45 minutes taking general Q&A from everyone at the office. During one of his answers, he shared an enlightened observation about people who were "right a lot". <http://s3.amazonaws.com/37assets/svn/1059-2009-great-leaders-jeff-bezos-bkt _729.jpg> He said people who were right a lot of the time were people who often changed their minds. He doesn't think consistency of thought is a particularly positive trait. It's perfectly healthy - encouraged, even - to have an idea tomorrow that contradicted your idea today. He's observed that the smartest people are constantly revising their understanding, reconsidering a problem they thought they'd already solved. They're open to new points of view, new information, new ideas, contradictions, and challenges to their own way of thinking. This doesn't mean you shouldn't have a well formed point of view, but it means you should consider your point of view as temporary. What trait signified someone who was wrong a lot of the time? Someone obsessed with details that only support one point of view. If someone can't climb out of the details, and see the bigger picture from multiple angles, they're often wrong most of the time. Great advice. -- Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community <[email protected]> Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org -- Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community <[email protected]> Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org
