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TechnographHow do you really go about changing someone's mind?
By Dan Streib
Posted: 9/27/07 Section: Opinion Columns
In reality, if another has so great an influence to transform another's stance on any given issue, what they really have done is taught that other person something. They have presented or written down ideas, facts, or new perspectives on an issue that the learner might not have thought of on his or her own. This new knowledge or new reasoning that was presented to the student, if accepted, must then be confirmed as correct by the student.
Whether this confirmation comes about by a long deliberative process or an instantaneous gut reaction is frankly irrelevant to the fact that this confirmation is still a choice. I do not have to accept the fact that the earth is round. I do not have to believe in the so-called law of gravity. Granted, that law may be true. Granted, I may experience this law when I, in all of my clumsiness, happen to drop my books, watch them fall, and find the shocking truth that my body is not free from this law either, as I simultaneously experience a tripping sensation over another students foot and subsequently discover that my just-fallen books have made rough contact with my newly-bruised face.
Despite this convincing evidence that Mr. Newton was correct, I still do not have to agree that gravity exists. I can postulate a new theory about coincidences in relation to and occurring between released books, stubbed toes, and bruised faces. It's my mind, and I'll think what I want.
In the end, though, most of us make the personal choice to accept the existence of gravity. But it was a personal choice. And, given the difficulty I had in understanding why my physics teacher could not accept my new theory, I can be a rather tough case to persuade. In spite of this, or perhaps because of this, I have learned to keep an open mind about all things, even gravity, and more importantly, to respect someone from whom I can learn.
Dr. Loewen 's writings and views are not without controversy in my mind or in the minds of others. But Dr. Loewen always finds new ways of looking at issues, a fresh ways of explaining his views, and a healthy respect for reasoned inquiry. In other words he's a teacher.
And, in calling him such, I can most assuredly give him with no higher praise than that.
Whether this confirmation comes about by a long deliberative process or an instantaneous gut reaction is frankly irrelevant to the fact that this confirmation is still a choice. I do not have to accept the fact that the earth is round. I do not have to believe in the so-called law of gravity. Granted, that law may be true. Granted, I may experience this law when I, in all of my clumsiness, happen to drop my books, watch them fall, and find the shocking truth that my body is not free from this law either, as I simultaneously experience a tripping sensation over another students foot and subsequently discover that my just-fallen books have made rough contact with my newly-bruised face.
Despite this convincing evidence that Mr. Newton was correct, I still do not have to agree that gravity exists. I can postulate a new theory about coincidences in relation to and occurring between released books, stubbed toes, and bruised faces. It's my mind, and I'll think what I want.
In the end, though, most of us make the personal choice to accept the existence of gravity. But it was a personal choice. And, given the difficulty I had in understanding why my physics teacher could not accept my new theory, I can be a rather tough case to persuade. In spite of this, or perhaps because of this, I have learned to keep an open mind about all things, even gravity, and more importantly, to respect someone from whom I can learn.
Dr. Loewen 's writings and views are not without controversy in my mind or in the minds of others. But Dr. Loewen always finds new ways of looking at issues, a fresh ways of explaining his views, and a healthy respect for reasoned inquiry. In other words he's a teacher.
And, in calling him such, I can most assuredly give him with no higher praise than that.
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Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Linda
posted 9/28/07 @ 12:51 PM CST
"I can be a rather tough case to persuade"
You're flattering yourself, Dan. If "Dr." Loewen's texts - an avalanche of boring, regurgitated Marxist cliches claiming to be provocative and truth-seeking - influenced your (mis)understanding of history so much, that only means that you are both extraordinarily gullible, and ignorant of what truly distinguished historical writing consists of. (Continued…)
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