Has anyone ever changed your opinion on these forums?

[Dominic Crossman]

Pretty much what the title says.

The reason I made this article is because until today, I don't think anyone had ever done so, dispite me being around here for a few years now.
Thing is I consider myself an open minded sort of guy but a look back on the past few years seem to show otherwise.

(The following example is NOT the topic, if you wish to discuss solely fps go to the latest Critcal Miss)
The forum/comment section in question is one about the fps (frames per second not shooters) critcal miss strip. The argument/discussion seems to be about 30fps vs 60fps, I've always considered the diffrence to be negligible at best, and anyone who said otherwise is just an elitist.

However after discussing it with others, seeing links presented, etc. I have come realise that the effect can be quite distinct.
While it still doesn't bother me personally, because I just don't notice during gameplay when I'm concentrating on things, I have come to realise that it could/does effect other people and they're not just being elitist.

Well this post was longer then expected, so how about you, has anyone changed your mind on something?

Edit: Some sentences didn't read properly so I worded them better.

 

[Marter]

I seem to recall it happening semi-regularly back in my posting heyday of 2010/2011. Obviously I can't remember exactly what topics on which my mind was changed, but I remember it happened.
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Oh! American Psycho. I don't hate it anymore. The good people of the internet set me straight! I re-watched it after posting my initial opinion, taking into consideration all the truly wonderful and civil dialogue we had about it and no longer hated it. Score 1, internet.

 

[IceForce]

Back when all those transsexual/transgender threads were doing the rounds a few months ago, I started to understand their point of view and began to realize what those people must go through.

Prior to that, I was always very dismissive of trans people.

(This change of opinion was also due, in part, to the other side of the debate being absolutely reprehensible.)

 

[Thaluikhain]

Farson, on the necessity for civilian semi-automatic centrefire rifles for controlling feral pig numbers.

 

[CloudAtlas]

Now that is not due to these forums only, but they played their part:

I turned from a person who was rather apathetic (at best) towards homophobia, racism, sexism, misogyny and related social issues to a person who, well, is not apathetic anymore.

Although that didn't happen so much because people convinced me that these are real issues worth caring about. It happened because, as a decent human being, I felt I was really left with no other choice. Or in other words:

(This change of opinion was also due, in part, to the other side of the debate being absolutely reprehensible.)

 

[Fractral]

Many a time. I'm very easily persuaded by any well written argument. One that sticks out was someone managing to convince me that a Dark Souls easy mode was a bad thing, back when the forums were swarming with threads about the subject. I have also, on occasion, been convinced that a piece of media I liked was actually terrible, thereby ruining my enjoyment of it forever.

 

[Vault101]

hmm kind of

I've become less defensive about the things I like and able to acknowledge their flaws without them being ruined, in turn I'm better able to trust my own opinion on weather or not I think things are good or not

being critical is good but its very easy to be [i/]too[/i] critical

 

[JoJo]

Yes, my view on objective vs subjective morality was changed by discussions on this forum, not any particular post but accumulative threads eventually convinced me that my previous position was arbitrary and illogical. Probably plenty of more minor things, that's the big one that sticks out though.

 

[Colour Scientist]

I turned from a person who was rather apathetic (at best) towards homophobia, racism, sexism, misogyny and related social issues to a person who, well, is not apathetic anymore.

Pretty much this.
I've always considered myself a feminist and cared about equal rights and discrimination but I was quite passive about it because I never realised so many people held such worrying or problematic views.

 

[Casual Shinji]

I wouldn't exactly know if my opinion got changed on specific matters, but this place definitely made me more resilient against criticism of things that I like.

So I guess my opinion hasn't so much been changed, but the way that I express my opinion now has.

 

[Smeatza]

Consistently, why else would I keep returning?
If I look through my full history of posts, oldest to newest, I can actually see ignorance being cut away.

 

[Queen Michael]

(This change of opinion was also due, in part, to the other side of the debate being absolutely reprehensible.)

This is a perfect explanation of why lots of people change their minds in all kinds of questions.

 

[JimB]

No, but it's my experience no one is ever actually trying to change my opinions. The seeming goal has always been to win a fight, to cudgel opposition into submission with the overpowering force of his own, self-apparent correctness; and people just are not convinced by someone who's treating you like an enemy to be beaten.

Lest that be taken as condemnation of the forum community as a whole, let me say the conversations I tend to get into are about things like women's issues, which are discussions that attract an immense (and kind of depressing) amount of anger, so my experiences are less with the forum as a whole than with the people who want to have that particular discussion.

 

[Foolery]

Kinda. Not in a particularly good way for some things and users. Makes me feel like this.

But on the other hand, issues like transgender/transsexual make more sense to me now, than they did before.

 

[CloudAtlas]

I turned from a person who was rather apathetic (at best) towards homophobia, racism, sexism, misogyny and related social issues to a person who, well, is not apathetic anymore.

Pretty much this.
I've always considered myself a feminist and cared about equal rights and discrimination but I was quite passive about it because I never realised so many people held such worrying or problematic views.

Well, I was anything but a feminist. Like, I used to be one of those guys who made technically-not-wrong-but-in-context-awful comments in high school in order to provoke my female teachers, and found that very funny and felt really clever doing so. I also was ignorant about feminism, I only knew some of the more prominent figures of the movement, and thought that's what it was all about.
I guess that makes reading all those awful, ignorant, misrepresenting anti-feminist and not rarely misogynist comments all the more annoying - knowing that a few years ago, I might have been one of those who'd have cheered for that.

On balance, I'm not really sure how I should feel about all that. One the one hand, being regularly confronted with so many reprenehsible views online made me a better educated, more open-minded, and more caring person. On the other hand, it made me not really wanting to participate in any online communities anymore because there's just no way around it other than staying away entirely.

 

[Headsprouter]

Well, my opinions on Valve (brought about by their slow progress on things) were fixed a few months ago, it helps to be informed. Also, I came to appreciate Amnesia's sequel. Still feel bad about the gameplay, though. I've been whacked into the real world once, too. My ass still hurts from that one, haha.

 

[IceForce]

No, but it's my experience no one is ever actually trying to change my opinions. The seeming goal has always been to win a fight, to cudgel opposition into submission with the overpowering force of his own, self-apparent correctness; and people just are not convinced by someone who's treating you like an enemy to be beaten.

Do be aware that, while you might not seem to be changing the opinions of the person(s) you are debating with, you could still be changing the opinions of the casual third-party observer reading it.

At least, that's how it's always been for me. Any opinions I've had changed here, have been due to discussions I've been reading but not actually personally involved in.

 

[Shinsei-J]

It's happened before, I've been unable to see someone else's perspective on a matter before posting then once hearing their thoughts I've had to rethink my own. I can't tell you when or what it was about because I can't recall the details but it's definitely happened.

Might have been something about Nintendo a few years back, no idea.

 

[Something Amyss]

Not really, but opinions are something I change slowly. I think if my opinions changed frequently, they would be worthless.

It has taken me a lifetime to change some opinions, and I doubt any one argument or forum is going to change any of my opinions. I have, however, seen a lot of good arguments I can respect (even if I disagree) that one day may have the result of contributing to my change of an opinion.

 

[Mersadeon]

Well, first of all, the 30/60 fps issue won't convert anyone, since it is very subjective - it might not matter to you, but it matters to others. A difference in perception isn't gonna change, so the opinion based on it won't change. It's like trying to convince a blind person that colours are super awesome and that their books totally should be in colour - on a grand level, sure, its now an objectively better product, but for this particular person it doesn't matter.

On topic:
Not on these forums, no. I've gotten several incentives to rethink stuff, but I was never outright convinced.
That is not to say I can't be convinced, though - I've had discussions that completely changed my opinion.