7 ms·
They missed the most important and generally applicable one: "People who are right a lot of the time are people who often change their minds. "The smartest peo
by seunosewa 13y ago
They missed the most important and generally applicable one:
"People who are right a lot of the time are people who often change their minds.
"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."
http://37signals.com/svn/posts/3289-some-advice-from-jeff-bezos http://37signals.com/svn/posts/3289-some-advice-from-jeff-be...
- chrisgd 13y agoWell said. Basically the theme of Nate Silver's book as well. Don't stick to your forecast in the face of new information that might contradict your forecast.
- rhizome 13y agoAlso: "pivoting."
- mhartl 13y agoIt's a nice quote, but I'd change "smartest" to something like "wisest". Many smart people are quite stuck in their beliefs.
- jacquesm 13y agoIn that sense the 'flip flopper' insult from American politics should actually become a mark of distinction. It is as if changing your opinion due to additional insight/input/thinking is a bad thing instead of a good one.
- arbitrarywords 13y agowith the proviso that the "additional input" is something more substantial that an opinion poll...
- StavrosK 13y agoUgh, I hate it when I get new data and change my opinion and people look at me as if I'm easily swayed or something. I have new data that invalidates the old one, do you expect me to keep the same opinion even though I now think it's wrong? A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, etc.
- ams6110 13y agoThe more you know the more you know how much you don't know.
- veidr 13y agoThe negative connotations of 'flip flopper' are mostly based on the implicit assumption that the politician in question changed their[1] opinion for reasons of political expediency, i.e. for reasons more to do with polling data than new data actually pertinent to the issue at hand. It is true that this makes it harder for conscientious politicians to legitimately change their mind, though. [1]: they as singular gender-neutral pronoun FTW
- ams6110 13y agoThe political flip-flopper is I think more scorned for flipping or trying to play both sides of issues that are more matters of principle than simply changing a position based on new evidence. I have much more respect for a politician who sticks to principles, even if I don't agree with them, than I do one who tries to have it both ways depending on who he's talking to. ("He" can be used with gender-neutral intent. I dislike using the plural "they" for this purpose.)
- nnethercote 13y ago> "He" can be used with gender-neutral intent. Um, no it can't.
- jholman 13y agoI can't tell ams6110 what intent he or she may or may not have.... but I can say that "he" will not be reliably read as gender-neutral.
- veidr 13y ago> "He" can be used with gender-neutral intent. I dislike using the plural "they" for this purpose. Then you and I are on opposite sides of the greatest grammatical battle of our time, my friend.[1] [1]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender-neutral_language_in_English#Pronouns http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender-neutral_language_in_Engl... and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender-specific_and_gender-neutral_pronouns#Alternatives_to_generic_he http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender-specific_and_gender-neut...
- joseph_cooney 13y ago"When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, sir?"
- nl 13y ago"Strong Opinions, Weakly Held" is the best version of this I've heard. I had it taped up above my desk at one point.