How receptive are you to changing your views? You may be surprised to learn that your brain has evolved in ways that mean you are less likely to change your opinion than your might think. Neuroscientist Tali Sharot explores how presenting facts and figures is generally unsuccessful in changing someone’s views. Studies show that data-based approaches – trying to change a person’s opinion to your own – can have the opposite effect, with each person becoming more entrenched in their existing view. Why? One of our strongest inbuilt biases is confirmation bias. We seek out and rate more highly data that supports our beliefs, and ignore information that doesn’t. In the words of Harper Lee, says Sharot, ‘people generally see what they look for and hear what they listen for’. Data can be persuasive, but only if we don’t already hold a belief on a topic. To come to agreement when we already have an opinion on a subject, we need to explore our common desires and build from there.
This book examines the factors that help or hinder how we are influenced, our influence on others and how our beliefs are formed, and says focusing on what we have in common, rather than where we disagree, yields results. We must also consider what people want to believe. Messages that tap into basic human desires – a need for agency; a craving for hope; a longing to be part of a group – are more likely to work. To change a mind, tap into those motives.
ILLUSTRATION: LESLEY BUCKINGHAM