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29 Things People Considered To Be Their Hill To Die On But Later Changed Sides Drastically
You may not know, but Galileo Galilei did not actually utter his famous words “And yet it turns” after he recanted his “heretical” scientific works at the request of the Inquisition. Some will call this cowardice, others - prudence, because the great scientist thereby saved his life...
However, people know many examples when someone was incredibly persistent in their point of view, erroneous or not, and after some time, under the influence of various factors, changed their opinion to the diametrically opposite one. And this viral thread in the AskReddit community is dedicated to just such cases.
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#1
I used to be anti government healthcare. I got shot in Afghanistan and the VA ruined my f*****g life. My case was right at the heart of the VA scandal. I was extremely anti government health care and just frankly anti government after the Marine Corps. Then I lived an adult life in America. I watched a little girl die from horrific cancer over social media. She had a major campaign pulling for and it was pretty big thing in the community. My girlfriend (now wife) was friends with the family and we learned a lot about them and the girl. It was very beautiful and dramatic watching her live the rest of her short life. When she died, the family was annihilated by debt, and driven into abject despair. These f*****g vultures pecked them into pieces after they lost their daughter. It hardened me against the idea of private healthcare. I was a f*****g moron for believing that universal healthcare was some kind of evil. I was horribly wrong. We can't do this s**t without coming together. It has never worked. I really truly believe the reason the VA will never be fixed is because who's gonna give a f**k about a grown man getting f****d up in a war, when kids die like this, and their family gets destroyed.
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#2
Not recent, but I’m a boomer so we were raised to believe homosexuality is wrong. I never got worked up about it, but the idea was there. I got to thinking about it and realized it’s none of my business. What led me to that was the observation that the only difference is that they sleep with different people. How does that concern anybody else?.
#3
I grew up thinking labor unions were mobbed up organizations that wanted to bring Communism to America. Today, as an old man, I believe strengthening organized labor is the only way American workers will ever get a fair shake.
In this collection, made for you by Bored Panda, there are many stories, from small and funny to sad and even tragic, when people made a drastic 180 in their views on a variety of things. This could be political views or a phobia regarding insects, taste preferences or some kind of mental block in our head - or even just a prejudice about a certain movie genre. It’s not even this that’s interesting, but how people come to such changes.
#4
It wasn't recently, but my biggest change has been about abortion.
When I was in my early 20's I felt that the fetus had a right to life and abortions should only be performed when it's medically necessary or in the case of r**e/incest etc.
Years later I came to the conclusion that an unwanted pregnancy is a situation with 2 bad choices: either terminate the pregnancy or force a woman to go through an unwanted pregnancy and bring a life into the world that is likely to be born into a bad situation. Now I trust the potential parents' decision...if they feel that having the child is a bad idea, then it likely is, and abortion should be an option for them because it is the choice that will likely result in the least amount of suffering.
Currently, most of my political opinions lean right, but pro-choice is the issue I feel most strongly about.
#5
I used to be a super judgemental Christian. I hated the LGBTQ community and had no problem showing it. I met a trans woman who I couldn't help but fall in love with. I tried really hard not to but I couldn't live without her. I did a lot of thinking and research and came to the conclusion that God isn't real. If he is then he's cruel and I didn't want anything to do with him anyway. I'm now so happy and engaged to this gorgeous transgendered woman and I've never been more sure that im where I should be. We're both insanely happy.
#6
Electric vehicles are not good for the environment.
They are a plot to save the dying automotive industry. Mining the materials needed to produce EVs wreaks havoc on the environment and involves child slave labour particularly in the Congo.
EVs are heavier than petrol cars so there is additional wear on the roads and the tyres.
We need more walkable cities. More local stores within walking distance of people’s homes. Doctors, dentists, libraries, everything. More of them, closer so that people can walk or ride bikes instead. That is how we can protect the environment.
EVs are not going to save us.
“In fact, it cannot be said that a person can be an absolute adherent of any beliefs throughout their entire life,” says Irina Matveeva, a psychologist and certified NLP specialist, to whom Bored Panda reached out for a comment here. “The fact is that we are regularly exposed to the influence of various kinds of factors - in childhood this is mainly due to our parents and upbringing, and we unwittingly adopt the views inherent in our family.”
“Then, when the period of growing up begins, the already established mindset undergoes inevitable changes due to the fact that now the entire incoming flow of information is refracted through the prism of our own experience. And in the future, any changes that occur in our consciousness are the result of our experience, impressions and reflections over what's happening."
“Moreover, I would even rather say that it's not very natural when a person never changes their views - after all, flexibility is always inherent in the human mind. The main thing is that these turns in our perception benefit us and those around us,” Irina summarizes.
#7
We totally believed that vaccines caused autism up until our 100% not vaccinated kid was given an educational label of autism.
We took questionable child birth classes at 22 and expecting our first that told us a lot of b******t about the “evils” of vaccines, epidurals, and baby formula…all of this backed up what the conspiracy theorist who taught biology at our dumb Bible college (thankfully, we outgrew that nonsense) told us about these things, so we stupidly believed them.
We of course stopped doing delayed vaccines immediately after that (we were never 100% anti vaccines, just anti vaccines for kids under 3), and got our kids caught up pretty quickly.
This was all 14 years ago now, though, so not really recent.
#8
I was a conservative into my early-mid 20s and then I hard flipped on every single policy. None of that s**t makes sense if you think about it at all. I wasn’t an extremist, but they definitely tricked me into believing b******t like trickledown economics.
#9
I’m not a project that needs to be constantly worked on. Growth is important, but sometimes…you just gotta be. 🐝.
Often our prejudices are only in our heads - and only when we finally decide to break this psychological barrier and try something new, it may well turn out that in reality everything is not as we pictured inside ourselves. Well, or our negative perception will only be confirmed - this also cannot be discounted. Be that as it may, it’s worth trying, experimenting and not being afraid.
#10
We had Miracle Whip in my house growing up. I thought it was just a brand of regular mayonnaise. I hated it.
One day I had a sandwich with actual real mayonnaise on it, it was the best sandwich of my life up to that point. I looked into it and Miracle is some weird thing that's to mayonnaise what margarine is to butter.
I hated beer until my late 20s, when I finally had something besides Bud Lite or Coors.
Jeremy James 9 months ago
Miracle Whip is a low-fat version of mayonnaise with added sugar, mustard, garlic, and paprika.
#11
I was terrified of snakes until I was in 10th grade (so... Not recently lmao, I graduated in 2018) until my biology teacher had 2 corn snakes and one of them was so sweet. Her name was Maisy and was just so cute. She would let us pet her, she'd curl up to me and fall asleep.
#12
I used to not like mashed potatoes, but it turns out my parents were just super f*****g bad at making them.
For example, don’t be afraid to leave your comments. Especially if you also have an interesting story behind you of overcoming or changing your own views on something or someone. So please be brave now, just write your own tale here - and who knows, maybe you'll also inspire someone to share one more great instructive or just amusing experience!
#13
People are inherently good/decent. Nope, I’ve been corrected and humbled numerous times.
Sonja 9 months ago (edited)
At birth, people are egoistical, aggressive savages. Empathy and kindness are learned behaviour. If children are not taught to be socialised human beings, they're no better than wild apes. We are not inherently bad, but were beasts with no knowledge of right and wrong. We have no morals by nature. It's learned behaviour and we get worse and worse at teaching our children how to be kind. Humans are animals, that have made themselves believe, that we're not.
#14
I'm an avid gardener and used to hate the idea of cut flowers. These days, I consider cut flowers as plants paying rent.
#15
I used to hate standardized tests and thought they were just a way for people to buy their way into better schools and were an inaccurate measure of true academic ability.
Then I saw an article in defense of them that basically admitted that everything I thought was true, but every single other current metric is easier to buy with money and an even worse measure of academic performance. Learned that day that flawed tools are sometimes the only tool you have.
and_a_touch_of_the_’tism 9 months ago
That was not where I was expecting that argument to go, but… yeah that’s a fair point.
#16
I always considered myself Christian, but over the last 16 months or so, I feel far more agnostic. I still respect religion. I just don’t feel like I really have much use for it anymore.
#17
I thought fish tasted weird, until my dad some years ago accidentaly "overcooked" the fish ny accident. It tasted great! Turns out its not supposed to have the consistency of gelatin.
#18
Brussels sprouts. My dad always said he hated them growing up so I assumed he was right and never ate them. Had some recently and they were delicious!.
and_a_touch_of_the_’tism 9 months ago
They actually used to taste really bitter if you didn’t cook them right, but I think that’s been selectively bred out, so they’re much more friendly and accessible. I love some Brussels sprouts, roasted in olive oil with a little salt and pepper.
#19
I used to hate spiders. Even the smallest ones would give me the creeps.
One day I was at a petting zoo with my kid, she was around four at the time. We went to see a snake and a spider and while we were there I ended up holding the spider in my hand. The spider guy asked me if I wanted to hold it. I think I didn't want to show my kid the fear, so I just went with it. It was a big fella.
Something clicked in my brain. Something about that spider being so big I could actually feel its weight instead of just the tickly feeling of a normal spider.
From that day my fear was cured. Spiders are just like ants or flies to me now.
#20
That my phd matters. I've been destroying myself over it while the institution I study at has completely failed to support me.
I thought without the Dr I would be a failure.
I realise now that I'd rather earn good money in a job I like and travel and live happy rather than keep making up for their failure.
and_a_touch_of_the_’tism 9 months ago
I’m conflicted bc I love learning and I really do want to go to higher levels of schooling, but I also don’t know what I want to do with my life and I’d feel bad if I was just pouring money into classes/degree I’d never use…
#21
I decided I don't hate my mom anymore and actually wish she was here. The 10 year anniversary of her passing was about a week ago and I was sitting on my bed mulling over my feelings as well as a lot of things my dad had said about my mom when we'd visited her grave for the first time in a while that morning. My thoughts were going at such a rapid pace that it took me a second to even realize what I'd thought when I absorbed that being mad at her for the ways she f****d me/my life up was useless, she could've changed as a person by now had she not passed, I've become an adult and understand the nuances of life, and I miss my mom.
#22
I recently changed from being a proponent of small government to a fan of big government.
The best government follows the will of the people and looks out for their wellbeing, and the best way to do that is to have a lot of checks and balances that prevent a small group from imposing their will on others.
Likewise, it's less prone to corruption since more people hold power, and it's harder to influence from the outside.
CP 9 months ago
You shouldn't want a big or small government. You should want the right sized government. If big government is the right size, it isn't big. This is like when politicians say they want to get rid of regulations. Well which ones? Some are good some are bad. A blanket statement like that is just dumb.
#23
I was dead set against blue cheese. I got some regular mild buffalo wings from dominos one night and thought f**k it, I’ll get one dip of blue cheese and if I don’t like it I’ll just toss it out. I ordered 2 ranches just in case. I actually love blue cheese now. S**t tasted so good haha. I get it all the time now.
Heather Evans 9 months ago
Okay but let's be honest here .. domino's is serving blue cheese flavoured dip .. not the real stuff
#24
I thought Elder scrolls online is a boring online game that I'll never like especially since trying it once.
I was extremely wrong!! I play almost every day, with my wife. I absolutely love this game's the world, the missions, the everything!.
#25
That people should adopt or foster instead of doing IVF, etc.
We started trying and I found out I have basically no eggs left (premature ovarian failure). I'd always said I'd "just adopt" if I couldn't have kids. Turns out actually being told I can't completely changed my view on things, and now we're doing donor egg IVF. I completely understand now why people put themselves through this stuff, as hard as it is.
Also, adoption is not cheap or easy like people assume, and has its own set of ethical issues (as does donor conception, but we've tried to inform ourselves as best we can so that we do it as "right" as possible, and try to do what is in the best interest of our future children). Fostering is not something just anyone can (or should) do, and is obviously not a guarantee of a happy family since the goal is reunification. .
Hans Georg 9 months ago
This leads to the question how much an adoption costs in their country. Of course a child needs clothes, food and other things, but the costs of adoption only, sum up to a few hundred Euros in my country. Of course it costs more for a child from another country, but that depends.
#26
I was team creamy peanut butter all the way back to kindergarten. Then during the pandemic, I changed to crunchy peanut butter. I saw the jar in the cabinet and thought it looked really good and now it's my preferred peanut butter. I think I was going through a midlife crisis.
#27
I used to believe it was useful to have police patrolling. Now I don’t. We don’t need police looking for traffic violations or monitoring sidewalks. We need them to come when called. We need them to investigate crimes.
At the very least we need to completely cutback on the police state.
#28
I had a big hangup about blood and gore in movies, to the point where I wouldn't even see 300 in theaters with my ex 17 years ago.
I just watched it, and it's like a switch flipped in my brain: it's all stylized. I'm certainly not going to watch SAW anytime soon, but the fear is greatly diminished.
#29
Onions.
I used to hate them, but like them now.
But I still don't like sweet onions. Taste like onion flavored apple. Worst of both worlds.
R.A. Haley 9 months ago
My grandfather used to grow his own red onions and eat them like apples.
What do you think ?
KillerKiwi 9 months ago
I used to have an uninformed view of abortion, I knew what it did and was like yeah, sounds bad that’s a baby but it’s the mom’s choice. Then I got older and roe vs wade got turned and I did more research. Holy s**t, abortion is important. It should be available to women everywhere without bible thumpers telling them they’re going to hell
Ranger Kanootsen 9 months ago
Hi KillerKiwi! I know very little about the whole abortion topic. You say you did more research and discovered how important it is, and I am trying to learn. What made you decide abortion was so important? (Not trying to debate, I just know so little and I would love to know)
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Dij 9 months ago
I was a very picky eater as a kid. One of my friends is an excellent cook and he dared me to let him make a food I hated. He assured me he wouldn't be offended if I didn't like it as long as I tried it once. I said okay. That's how I learned, as much as I love them, my parents are just not good cooks.
Hey! 9 months ago
Funny how many of us learned that (our parents not being great at cooking) as we get to adulthood. I made myself a great cook to the point of my oldest brother coming over to eat; he was a sous-chef at the time.
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Guess Undheit 9 months ago
When I was in my 20s, I once spent more than half a year on welfare. I saw how it's a trap designed to punish people for being on it, but is simultaneously designed to make getting off welfare next to impossible unless (like me) you're single without kids. Very few people who are on welfare want to be, most want to work and have a better life but roadblocks are put in their way.
KillerKiwi 9 months ago
I used to have an uninformed view of abortion, I knew what it did and was like yeah, sounds bad that’s a baby but it’s the mom’s choice. Then I got older and roe vs wade got turned and I did more research. Holy s**t, abortion is important. It should be available to women everywhere without bible thumpers telling them they’re going to hell
Ranger Kanootsen 9 months ago
Hi KillerKiwi! I know very little about the whole abortion topic. You say you did more research and discovered how important it is, and I am trying to learn. What made you decide abortion was so important? (Not trying to debate, I just know so little and I would love to know)
Load More Replies... Dij 9 months ago
I was a very picky eater as a kid. One of my friends is an excellent cook and he dared me to let him make a food I hated. He assured me he wouldn't be offended if I didn't like it as long as I tried it once. I said okay. That's how I learned, as much as I love them, my parents are just not good cooks.
Hey! 9 months ago
Funny how many of us learned that (our parents not being great at cooking) as we get to adulthood. I made myself a great cook to the point of my oldest brother coming over to eat; he was a sous-chef at the time.
Load More Replies... Guess Undheit 9 months ago
When I was in my 20s, I once spent more than half a year on welfare. I saw how it's a trap designed to punish people for being on it, but is simultaneously designed to make getting off welfare next to impossible unless (like me) you're single without kids. Very few people who are on welfare want to be, most want to work and have a better life but roadblocks are put in their way.
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