Smart people tend to change their mind a lot

Smart people are open to new points of view, new information, new ideas, contradictions, and challenges to their own way of thinking

Jason Fried, co-founder of Basecamp and co-author of the New York Times best-selling book “Rework”, recounts a time when Bezos stopped by the company’s headquarters and did a 45-minute Q&A session. In one of his answers, the Amazon founder shared an interesting insight about people who are “right a lot”, writes CNBC.

Consistency of thought isn’t a positive trait

Bezos said: “People who were right a lot of the times were people who often changed their minds. It’s perfectly healthy — encouraged, even — to have an idea tomorrow that contradicted your idea today.”

Bezos went on to explain that the smartest people he’s observed were always “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,” Fried recalls.

In short, smart people (a.k.a. those who are “right a lot”), change their minds — a lot.

Nothing is definite

When asked what trait signified someone who was “wrong a lot” of the time, Bezos’ answer was “the tendency to be 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.”

It’s important to note that Bezos isn’t implying that smart people are insecure about their decisions. He’s simply saying that they’re comfortable with being wrong, which then allows them to analyse new data, be open to new opinions and revisit long-standing positions.

As psychologist Mel Schwartz writes, “One of the most prevalent — and damaging — themes in our culture is the need to be right. It is so deeply embedded in our belief system and in our collective psyche that we never even pause to consider it.”

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