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Over the last 30 years since 1977, the power of food has changed me! Before 1977, for 30 years, I had no idea on the power of food and its relationship my health, my spirituality, my attitudes, my beliefs, and even the quality of my relationships, my culture health and my Earth's ecology!
Today that has ALL changed. Over the last 30 years food has changed me from an egocentric, power seeking, aggressive male to a more harmonious, lovable human being that cares for others and serves humanity in a very humble wasy with quality education and training in eating a whole grain, plant-based diet fro my home.

Posted by David Snieckus at January 4, 2008 11:12 AM

Good question John but I would take up the rest of today typing if I were to list what I’ve changed my mind about. I'm always changing my mind. I don’t understand why it is such a big deal to change one’s mind. I think it was Groucho Marx who said ‘Those are my principles and if you don’t like them … I have some more’

Most of my principles (for instance my belief in God) will not change but in less important matters I sway from one stance to the opposite in most aspects of my life and my work – I seriously see no problem with that whatsoever. Life and work in my opinion is not some rational, logical, linear progression that some would like to pretend. It is one hell of a messy chaotic journey and I’m never sure which direction it will take – and that is just wonderful.

I have changed my mind about a couple of things worthy of note – as a kid I hated the taste of vegetables and beer :-)

Posted by Trevor Gay at January 4, 2008 11:24 AM

Changing my mind has not been significantly difficult. The real challenge lies in getting others to change their minds and taking appropriate action.

Posted by H. Peter Schiller at January 4, 2008 5:20 PM

hey john

changed my mind:

digital might be as good as film
digital might be as good as vinyl
GM might be able to produce quality and design (CTS)
for all my brown blood, fedex did an amazing job of getting my powerbook to me from China in blazing speed

haven't changed my mind

GM says Volt may not make 2012 target (glaciers may be melting elsewhere but still exist at the RenCen in Detroit)
still believe in divinity student glam rocker canadian mine lover consultants (they make great friends)

HNY Mr O'Leary

Posted by Mike Neiss at January 4, 2008 5:20 PM

Have changed my mind:

"The wisdom of the masses." I'm more and more inclined to think that if a majority thinks X, then Y is more likely to be correct.

"Front liners have all the answers." Sorry Trevor but no they don't. They have buckets and buckets of good ideas but loads of bad ones as well; they need to be sense checked and filtered and not taken as gospel.

Haven't changed my mind:

Tony Blair was the worst Prime Minister for at least 50 years and leaves behind a very, very rocky economy and a country totally unsure of itself.

Posted by Mark JF at January 4, 2008 5:36 PM

Happy New Year Mark - another great year ahead of differing opinions I am sure my friend :-)

OK … as a New Year gesture I will accept front liners may not know ALL the answers – just 95% of the answers. And BTW that represents about 90% more answers than many unnecessary middle managers know. I refer particularly to those managers who have never met a customer in the last 10 years. You know the sort Mark, managers who would rather sit in their offices writing complicated jargon filled reports that no one reads.

Tony Blair worse than Mrs T? Come on Mark – that woman ruined anything remotely resembling community support on the basis that everything was about the individual. Most of the problems within our society today can still be laid at her door.

And I don’t share your view our country is unsure of itself. We have never been better off and that is down to Tony’s leadership for the last 10 years.

Posted by Trevor Gay at January 4, 2008 7:22 PM

Well for one thing I used to simply think Trevor was perhaps the most knowledgeable and insightful person working this space. I have changed my mind. I now know he is! Another thing is Cable T.V and the Internet.....going from three networks and the occassional UHF "independent" to channels for days used to be my idea of a fabulous thing. Sports and sports and more sports. Of course, the proliferation of 24 hour news channels and the others that label themselves as "news" have made the line between fact and fiction a very fine one indeed. Opinions, fabrications, constant spin, talking heads and talking points. News used to be fact based, checked, and sourced. Now they claim the "market" drives them to cut corners and be less than accurate. Style over substance. Talk to to many folks who get their news and form their political views from sources like "The Daily Show" or whatever Bill Maher's HBO show is called. Ditto the Internet. I get the whole Wiki "mass collaboration" concept but again, what about accuracy? Facts or opinion? Truth or spin? There is just something about the manipulation of information for a specific purpose or agenda that makes a person take notice.....or should.

Posted by Dave W at January 4, 2008 9:26 PM

Trevor, have you changed your mind about the Eagles yet? Mike, thanks for the props, but I dunno about "glam" rocker - I played in my share of downtrodden, panhandling street bands. (Come to think of it, I still owe you 10 bucks.) Dave, re Wiki, check out the entire Kevin Kelly quote.

I read dozens of these contributions on Edge.org and was blown away by a lot of them.

Posted by John O'Leary at January 5, 2008 9:02 AM

Hi John - as I said, some things, even for me, are non-negotiable - The Eagles? - I will never change my mind about the greatest ever band. Among my Christmas presents was The Eagles new CD 'Long Road Out Of Eden' (first studio recorded album for 28 years). Brilliant and needless to say I have driven the family mad by repeated playing for the last 10 days.

The Eagles - testimoney to 'Baby Boomer' concept I'm surprised Tom doesn't feature them :)

As we say in football (soccer) form is temporary, class is permanent.

Posted by Trevor Gay at January 5, 2008 9:13 AM

John, it was the "communitarian socialism" thought in the quote that prompted the inclusion. All great things can and do have harmful consequences especially when done to excess. "Its mind-changing power is working subconsciously on the global millennial generation, providing them with an existence proof of a beneficial hive mind, and an appreciation for believing in the impossible."
OK...and this means? I am old and "old school". in attitude. Work ethic, energy, and believing in and accomplishing the impossible are certainly not the sole domain of the "millenials". They are in fact the beneficaries of the tireless work and imaginations of the generations before.....where did the techno tools and toys come from that enable them to tap into the "beneficial hive mind?" Warner Van Braun and the folks at NASA, who responded to President Kennedy's challenge in 1962 to put a man on the moon by the end of the decade, accomplished at a miracle given the bandwidth of information and technology that was available to them at the time. Responsibility for actions, questioning authority, and pushing the envelope are attributes all generations have. Wikipedia is often the resource cited that touts the value of the web and mass collaboration. It's quality issues and the responses to them are well documented. Nicholas Carr wrote ""An encyclopedia can't just have a small percentage of good entries and be considered a success. I would argue, in fact, that the overall quality of an encyclopedia is best judged by its weakest entries rather than its best. What's the worth of an unreliable reference work?".....that's a great question. I'm sure there is a middle ground to be had in this whole "hive mind mentality". Hope we find it soon.

Posted by Dave W at January 5, 2008 3:55 PM

Thanks Dave W - Appreciated :-)

Posted by Trevor Gay at January 5, 2008 7:00 PM

Over the years I have changed my mind about:
1) Santa Claus
2) Jesus
3) God
4) Religion and Patriotism
5) Taxes and Government
6) Money
7) Work and Play

The only thing I do believe in now is CHANGE!

Posted by David Snieckus at January 6, 2008 12:22 PM

I keep finding more gems on Edge.org. Social psychologist, DAVID G. MYERS (http://www.edge.org/q2008/q08_4.html#myers): “Reading and reporting on psychological science has changed my mind many times, leading me now to believe that:
• newborns are not the blank slates I once presumed,
• electroconvulsive therapy often alleviates intractable depression,
• economic growth has not improved our morale,
• the automatic unconscious mind dwarfs the controlled conscious mind,
• traumatic experiences rarely get repressed,
• personality is unrelated to birth order,
• most folks have high self-esteem (which sometimes causes problems),
• opposites do not attract,
• sexual orientation is a natural, enduring disposition (most clearly so for men), not a choice.”

Posted by John O'Leary at January 6, 2008 3:43 PM

I’ve changed my mind about a few things:

a) Wall Street – Thought it was a cool place where best the financial minds *work*…now, I know it’s a greedy man’s graveyard, where a bunch of jokers play poker!
b) Google – Thought it to be the savior of sour times…now, I know it’s a search engine powered by sour-cream!
c) Steve Jobs – Thought this guy maybe worthy of worship…now, I proclaim him to be GOD of DESIGN!
d) Private Equity Players – Thought them to be moneylenders decked in “black-tie”…now, I realize they are the financiers of the future!
e) Chinese – I thought them to be “wholesalers of our world”…now, I reckon they are “polluters of our planet”
f) Investment Bankers & Management Consultants – Never changed my mind about them…they are always (and shall always remain) the black-tied people with black-eyed vision!

Posted by Sriram at January 7, 2008 2:44 AM

John,
What a brilliant post for the beginning of the new year. As for changing my mind, I change it all the time (drives my wife nuts occasionally), but it helps me admit when I'm wrong and move on. As for some of the bigger things I've redirected my thinking on over the years are:

- Brands are not something you can control, but merely have a minor degree of influence on, since brand strength is almost entirely based on audience perception. This is more true today than ever before.
- People/customers are generally smarter than corporations give them credit for.
- Business school taught the virtues of business service partners, however, agencies and consultants, while valuable to success should never be trusted out of hand (sorry to all of the consultants out there, but my first boss/mentor at Coca-Cola taught me this and it has been proven true more times than I care to count).
- Good leadership matters more than a good business model.
- The transportation infrastructure in the UK is an unmitigated disaster.

And some beliefs that have never wavered:
- Good design trumps good advertising any day
- Slick, smooth talking sales people (including politicians) are never (NEVER) to be trusted.
- Apple had it right all along.
- The more I learn, the less I seem to know but, I am more confident in what I know because of what I have learned.

Posted by Andrew Hayden at January 7, 2008 12:45 PM

Forgot to answer this myself. One recent example of a change of mind: I no longer consider talk radio to be an idiot's forum - and I now have a new addiction to manage.

Posted by John O'Leary at January 8, 2008 11:28 AM