Café Inquiry (Online) – Why We Hate Changing Our Minds

This event is held online. (Click the button to join the Zoom meeting.)

Many of us marvel at other people’s unwillingness to change their minds. Yet perhaps we should also be marveling at our own ideologic tenacity. Not surprisingly, this clinging to ideas has been studied. At the next Café Inquiry ONLINE we will discuss why we humans find it so hard to give up beliefs. We’ll talk about what scientists have discovered, and we will also discuss our own adventures in belief abandonment. Before we meet you can look at the links below,  two short videos and three readings. If you’d like, please come prepared to share some of your own experiences giving up strongly held beliefs or opinions. This 2+ minute video provides a fun intro to the topic. In this 13 minute TedMed video, Sara Gorman, a public health expert, talks about the psychology and neurophysiology of changing our minds in the context of medical misinformation. Keith M. Bellizzi, Professor of Human Development and Family Sciences discusses cognitive biases and neurobiological factors that promote maintaining our beliefs in this short article. This New Yorker article from 2017 (but still relevant) discusses some of the research that has been done looking at how irrational we humans can be when evaluating new information. Finally, here is a brief meditation on how we can be more open to changing our own minds. Hope to see you ONLINE for what should be a fun and enlightening discussion!

Café Inquiry starts with a short introduction of the day’s topic, followed by casual discussion.

This event is free and open to the public. Donations appreciated, but not expected.

Attendees are able to future propose topics which would align with Michigan Humanist’s purpose: from atheism, agnosticism, humanism, secularism, and freethinking to broader subjects in science and humanities, such as religion, philosophy, social issues, politics, evolution, morality, ethics, and psychology.

Café Inquiry (Grand Rapids) meets each month IN PERSON on the second Sunday and ONLINE on the fourth Sunday.

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Michigan Humanists values the participation of all guests — requests for reasonable accommodation may be made by contacting the event host at least three days prior to the event.

Michigan Humanists expects all guests to engage in respectful discussion. Critiques on views and claims based on merit are allowed, but not attacks on individuals who hold other perspectives.

Any person engaging in disruptive behavior or harassment will be asked to leave, and may be banned from future events pending the severity of the action. Please speak to the event host or contact info@michiganhumanists.org if you feel these expectations are being violated.