http://goo.gl/6o5zXV  link to original image

Recently, someone got very angry at me because I posted a comment consisting entirely of a snopes.com link. Whether you want to argue about whether snopes is always legitimate or not, the larger issue is one of denial of any opposing or contradictory information. That’s a real problem in society and much of the reason why we have difficulty interacting.

(But, let’s be honest, isn’t it a fabulous feeling when someone posts something inflammatory and crazy on social media and you find the snopes article from 3 years ago, debunking it entirely?)

One of my goals as a person and as a liberal is to remember to be willing to change my opinion with new information. I need to strive to keep an open mind – but not all ideas and ideology are predicated on the precept of learning and adaption to information and circumstances. All too often people have a “one-answer-fits-all” solution – and it is invariably wrong. As I look back on my life, I know that I’ve been spectacularly wrong about some things. This means that I’m probably wrong about some things today and I’ll be wrong tomorrow.

I don’t always need to be right.

We are all in some ways children of a lesser god, even if it doesn’t seem obvious to others.

But first and foremost, we have to open to learning instead of using our ideology to beat the same old drum.

Let’s play a new song.

(“Children of a lesser god” refers to the original idea implied by Tennyson, rather than a religious concept per se. I only mention this to avoid some people from reading some bizarre connotations into it.)