How an Interviewer Converted a Vaccine-Sceptic Into a Vaccine-Advocate

He helped her motivate herself

Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash

Rethinking, the process of reviewing our long-held beliefs and ideas and changing them in the light of new evidence, is a necessary skill to flourish in the 21st century.

Adam Grant, Organizational psychologist, and best-selling author has written a whole book about this topic. His book, “Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don’t Know, is a treasure house of research-backed ideas and insights.

According to Grant, rethinking our beliefs is hard; making other people rethink theirs is harder.

When we try to persuade others to change their minds about anything, we adopt three methods.

• We become preachers. We hold the high moral ground and sermonize about the truth others have missed.
• We turn into prosecutors. We accuse others of being naive and irrational. We talk in a domineering way and try to impose our views on others.
• We talk like politicians. We appeal to their emotions and fears and talk in a politically correct manner.

More often than not, these strategies have the opposite effect. People harden their beliefs and refuse to rethink.