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Challenging your perceptions

Discussion in 'Chit Chat' started by Hexagon, Jun 9, 2013.

  1. Hexagon

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    Just a thread about opening one's mind and leaving prejudice behind. Have you ever had a belief successfully challenged? Any topic you want.

    A rather stupid one: My parents had somehow managed to convince me that sci-fi was EVIL and horrible, and that I should never watch nor read it. Then I was introduced by a friend to doctor who, which was the very epicenter of my parents' hatred. Yeah sci-fi! :slight_smile:
     
  2. Pain

    Pain Guest

    I used to be VERY fanatical in a religious way, and I used to say that I hated James Madison for his emphasis on freedom of religion, but I've since become very unreligious, yet spiritual, and respecting of others' beliefs.
     
  3. Owen

    In Loving Memory Full Member

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    I used to think that men and women were truly equal, that feminism wasn't necessary anymore, and that the slut-stud double standard was totally justified. Man was I wrong.
     
  4. greatwhale

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    A rather obvious one: I used to think I was straight.
     
  5. Aielar

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    Yep. I grew up believing aboriginal people were a resource suck, lazy, and a burden on society. Once I got to know a few Aboriginal people, and found out more of their cultural teachings, that belief was overturned because I discovered it was wrong and untrue. So glad I got over that :slight_smile:
     
  6. Rakkaus

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    Most of my beliefs have changed dramatically over the years, in terms of politics, religion, sexuality, philosophy, lifestyle. My whole worldview and mindset is dramatically different than it was when I was a young teenager.

    I can't stand stubborn reactionaries who refuse to allow the free discussion of new ideas, even if they are opposing views. Even if they don't change your mind, just having your beliefs challenged will make your ability to defend your own beliefs stronger.
     
  7. Aussie792

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    Me too. I now realise every day how oppressive our society is against women. I can't believe how wrong I was.
     
  8. Argentwing

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    At one point I thought there was no separate concept for transgenderism, and all gay people would get gender reassignment if given the chance. Granted, this was a LONG time ago, but eventually it struck me that one could be comfortable in their gender and be attracted to the same.
     
  9. FreeFlow9917

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    Nope, not yet anyway, i plan to come out in a couple of months when i turn sixteen. But if they ever challenge me on religion and homosexuality, maybe
    Wait, i did prove to my dad that the comma comes before the and in a list of 3 or more items.
     
  10. BradThePug

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    Unless you are writing in AP style (Journalism style, AP stands for Associated Press) :slight_smile:

    __________________________________________________________________________________________________

    I could go on for a while about this.. I'll make a list, that will make this much more simple..

    1. I realized that gay people were not sinful people as I had been taught by my church.. (thanks to my parents taking me to various liberal festivals in Columbus,Ohio.
    2. I realized that I was gay and pangender.
    3. I realized that all atheists were not going to burn in hell..
    4. (I bet that you guessed this one) I realized that I no longer believed in god.

    This all happened within a matter of 3 years.. so, I had a bit of an identity crisis going on. I'm to the point now where I love to research things and find out more about why people believe what they believe. I also enjoy to research other viewpoints. That way, if I ever am faced with a debate (or writing a news article) I can understand a bit of both sides of the issue at hand.
     
  11. justjade

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    Hey, me, too! High five, bro!

    I used to be a crazy religious fanatic, and now I wish that I hadn't been raised in church. I believed so many things that were completely unfounded. I was taught that rock music was evil, Harry Potter was actually a spellbook, homophobic is the only way to be, all that crap. Public school broke me, and I'm so glad it did.

    I also recently learned that you can't end a sentence with a preposition because doing so makes it a postposition instead, so it's still OK. BOOM!
     
  12. stuffiscool

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    For one, even after becoming a left-winger I still thought promiscuity and drugs were always bad. But I read more about actual experiences with either and realized I was wrong.
     
  13. Ettina

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    I used to think intelligence was linked to a person's worth. I told myself it wasn't, and didn't realize that deep down I still thought it was. I paired this with a belief (which I still hold) that many people and animals are smarter than most people think they are. However, I recently challenged this, because I began cognitive testing on my cat and realized that he has a lot less understanding of things than I previously thought. For example, he's at stage 3 object permanence, which means he can find a partially hidden object but not one that's completely hidden - even though he watched me hide it. And I realized that his low intelligence in comparison to humans doesn't make him any less wonderful.
     
  14. destiny99

    destiny99 Guest

    I have a rather weird and pointless one, but I'm going to post it anyways. I don't know why, but I always thought that people who watched anime and/or read manga were nerdy or at the very least goth. I don't think I'm a nerd or goth, and look at me now! I've got a Death Note avatar for crying out loud! My 11-year-old brain came up with some weird generalizations...
     
  15. Formality

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    Same here.

    I've also become more accepting of other people. I've had prejudice against people before, I bullied others as a kid. I've been pretty horrible at times tbh, but I've changed. I get really angry when I see someone getting picked on whether it's online or afk. People can't see past someones outside. I saw this video posted on facebook with two friends dancing, and one of them happened to have some "disorder" that made that person unable to make facial expressions (it might have been moebius syndrome). Anyway, I did not see one single positive comment. Every single little comment was making fun of these girls. It's a sick society we live in when someone gets picked on for having a disorder. :icon_mad:
     
  16. Ettina

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    Sounds like Moebius Syndrome. They're missing some of the nerves that control facial muscles, so they don't make facial expressions.

    It's a condition that could easily have no practical impact on your life. You just express yourself through body language and tone of voice rather than with your face. But unfortunately a lot of people are freaked out by anything different.
     
  17. Owen

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    Some of the posts in this thread reminded me: I also used to believe in God.

    [​IMG]
     
  18. Formality

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    Exactly. The girl in the video along with the rest of the people with similar disorders are used to the life that they live, since it's "the only life they know". And they have this problem that makes their everyday life harder then the "norm". But why..? Why do people have to make their lives even harder by bullying them? Maybe it's because people are so uneducated on the matter..? I among a very, very few others at least have the decency to educate myself on the matter, unlike 99% of the people who watched the video. I hate that people don't realize there might be an underlying factor as to why the person they are laughing at look like they do or act like they do. It's just horrible. Sometimes...
    [​IMG]

    ---------- Post added 12th Jun 2013 at 01:33 AM ----------

    haha, brilliant!
     
  19. Hexagon

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    Its great that you've educated yourself on the matter. But it saddens me that often, people can't seem to be compassionate without understanding something. To take the example above, you shouldn't have to know loads about the disorder - or even have heard of it - to treat someone like a human being.
     
  20. Foxface

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    I used to think marijuana was just like they stated in Refer Madness....then I tried it...man was I wrong

    Foxface