To ask if you've ever radically changed your mind about something (lighthearted!)

[CulturePigeon]

I'm thinking both of serious matters (politics, religion etc) and perhaps less serious ones (food preferences, music genres, colours, hobbies). I'm interested in how or why people change their minds about things, whether suddenly or over a long period.

Politics (and religion, I suppose) can be very tribal and sometimes depend more on what we've been brought up to believe rather than the empirical evidence - but have you had a 'conversion' to the other side in some way?

I have a trivial example to do with food. I was at primary school so long ago that they frequently made you sit until you''d finished whatever was on your plate. I remember at the time that chocolate semolina (oh yes!) made me heave, and although I was generally greedy and not very fussy, I just couldn't get it down. I sat there looking at it and knew I'd have to just do it, so started to shovel it in. By the 4th spoonful I was totally converted and after that, I couldn't get enough - even asked my mum to make it at home. This is really weird, I think, and counter-intuitive, but I've never forgotten it! (Not recommending this as an approach now, though!).

Any experiences like this, either major or minor?

Coriander! Used to HATE it, now love it. I used to pick it off when it was used as a garnish in restaurants. Then, when first dating, DP cooked for me and I'd forgotten to mention I didn't like it. He had made a coriander-heavy dish, I tried it and realised I really liked it. Weird.

Twiglets

Scottish independence.

Voted no in referendum.

Now I hope Scotland seperates away from the toxic fuckers in Westminster with every fibre of my being.

The nature of salvation.

I'd been Got by the evangelicals at an impressionable age so was firmly convinced that non-Christians went to hell. Please note that I was not at all happy about this. I'd heard various arguments but had been persuaded that The Bible Makes It Clear that that was how things were structured and God had to follow the rules.

Went up to the altar rail in this state. Came back assured of universal salvation. Closest I've ever got to a message from the divine.

On a more lighthearted note: I disliked lots of foods as a child. On a weekend away during my first year university there was tomatoes on toast for breakfast and I was really hungry so I took some despite not liking cooked tomatoes. It was delicious. So over the next few months I tried everything else I didn't used to like - mostly successfully though I retain antipathy to liver.

Wallpaper @ £50 a roll. I loved it when I saw it in the shop but thought it was too expensive. DH told me to buy it and stop talking about it.😄
When it was put up I bloody hated it. I called the decorator back within the week. He stripped it off and painted the whole hall white.
Now DH refuses to discuss ANY decor decisions with me 😂😂😂

Green tea - every time I came acroos it when I was younger it had been prepared exactly like black tea and left the bag in so it tasted like bitter burnt leaves. I can only assume the people doing it liked the fancy exoticness of green tea to the point of not caring about the taste.

One day while moving the boxes out of the way to get to the fruit tea I liked I noticed the preparation instructions on the side of a box of green and bought it on an impulse to try making that way -- and guess what? When you don't scald it to death it tastes a lot better.

The death penalty. Used to be all for it but am utterly against it now. I think it lowers us to the same level as the person/people who've committed the crime.

So many issues connected with feminism. Rape for instance, prostitution and consent. I never used to think prostitution was that bad. Just thought of it as a way for women to earn some money. I'm now horrified by it and see so many issues around true consent etc.

Hash browns. HATED them... how wrong I was!

Sprouts, had many a tearful stand off over ‘fairy cabbages’ as a child, trying to bury them under mash which for some reason you were allowed to leave but not sprouts oh no, sit until they are gone ! Used to make me gag. As 20 year old who had won the sprouts vs mum battle years before i went to newish boyfriends house for sunday lunch and unlike at home theyserved food diectly onto the plate not in serving dishes, i was a bit shy and too polite to leave them so i ate them and i quite liked them, loved them ever since 👍🏻

I hated coffee as a teen and it was a revelation when I had it, black, at a friend's house. Turned out the way my parents made it (one teaspoon of Budgen's own brand and a lot of milk) wasn't the only way to make coffee!

I also changed my mind about Brexit overnight (from pro to anti - saw the light after all the lies).
Also changed mind during the debate about gay marriage (from 'it's not right' to 'it's an absolute right').

Olives - taken to them

Religion - taken against it after having DD

Outdoor cats! Growing up had many cats, all went outdoors, I would defend this as normal practise. But now I'm older and reflecting on how many went missing or were hit by cars etc, I've come around to the pro-indoor cat position.

Ever closer harmonisation of Europe (and the world actually):
As a teenager I thought it was inevitable that Europe would become a superstate and that it would be a good thing, one big happy family etc etc. Then I lived in Europe for a year (just before introduction of the Euro) and appreciated the differences, and really liked that there are differences. It was a bit of an awakening that ever closer integration isn't a good thing.

Generally people are very left wing in their teens and youth but become more conservative (with a small c) as they grow older. I think having a family does that to you! I remember a very alternative, single mum friend of mine saying "I just want a man with a decent job, I'm sick of life being too hard!". I switched quite young I think, between 20 and 22.

@StepAwayFromTheEcclesCakes I saw a programme a while ago that said sprouts used to be more bitter than they are now, so that may account for your change in taste.

I was strictly a vodka person, wouldn't entertain gin and all the wankery that can go with it. Got lured in by the gins being all pretty with fruit and flowers and the vodkas looking really dull. Thought I'd just try a gin one day, total convert!

Generally people are very left wing in their teens and youth but become more conservative (with a small c) as they grow older

I hear this all the time but I've got much more left-wing as I've got older (and this is true for plenty of people I know). Brought up by right-wing parents, was a left-wing teenager but ultimately held fairly centrist views. The older I get, the more injustice I see, the more I read and learn about how our society's been built and is maintained, the angrier I get. And the more I realise that the urgent thing isn't to win over people who don't want to be won over by compromising your beliefs - but to protect and fight for the people who are being fucked over right now.

I hated avocadoes and aubergines as a teenager, something about the texture I think. Spent my adult life making up for all of the avocadoes and aubergines I failed to eat then.

@gannett

Generally people are very left wing in their teens and youth but become more conservative (with a small c) as they grow older

I hear this all the time but I've got much more left-wing as I've got older (and this is true for plenty of people I know). Brought up by right-wing parents, was a left-wing teenager but ultimately held fairly centrist views. The older I get, the more injustice I see, the more I read and learn about how our society's been built and is maintained, the angrier I get. And the more I realise that the urgent thing isn't to win over people who don't want to be won over by compromising your beliefs - but to protect and fight for the people who are being fucked over right now.

I hated avocadoes and aubergines as a teenager, something about the texture I think. Spent my adult life making up for all of the avocadoes and aubergines I failed to eat then.

My politics have also undergone a radical conversion and I've shifted from hard-core Tory to quite Left. Having espoused Conservative views quote vocally in my Politics lessons in sixth-form, I've never actually voted for them. I'm actually quite deeply ashamed by how unpleasant some of my views were. I'm a much kinder and more understanding person having left my rather toxic family home.

On the lighter side, I couldn't stand bacon and am now partial to the occasional bacon sarnie.

[quote pinguwozpushed]@StepAwayFromTheEcclesCakes I saw a programme a while ago that said sprouts used to be more bitter than they are now, so that may account for your change in taste. [/quote]
Ah maybe thats it!

Absolutely loads! Agree re politics changing as we age. I was theoretically very very vocally (embarrassingly) left, in its ideologies throughout my youth. But then I grew up, had children and accidentally became a pro independence (Wales in my instance) anti prostitution, apparent transphobe. My lgbt comrades have left me. I've dropped my lifetime Labour membership. Basically, I've grown up.

Another shocking turn about for me is camping! Hated it. Don't like dirt spiders or hard work- how is it a holiday?! I'd exclaim throughout my twenties. Now? Can't get enough of it. Putting my bare feet in the grass and waking up to birdsong, with no wifi for miles? Heaven.

I was brought up with quite old fashioned views about same sex marriage and adoption, mainly I think as I was brought up in a fairly strict Christian household. I totally reject those views now and have since I was a young adult, but I'm really embarrassed that I ever used to think that way. I guess you start off by going along with what you are taught is right/wrong. Actually I don't think my parents would think the same way now either though.

On a lighter note... salmon, which I thought was the worst thing in the world as a child and now it's one of my favourite foods.

Coffee. Also politics. Was super left in college. Then anarchist. Now market liberal/green libertarian with moderate edging.

I change my opinion all the time when informed by new information or when something changes.

Ice cream. Declined it consistently for decades

Found out I like good chocolate ice cream.

Became a vegan so I still don't eat it.

Also vaccine pass systems.

I was firmly against incentivising vaccination. Communication and correct information was the way to go.

But I'm re-examining my views at the moment. Incentivisation might be quicker
I was firmly against.

Bacon I realised you can get unsmoked and love it

I hated olives and avocados when I tried them as a teenager, but now love them (a bit unfortunate because I think avocados are not the most planet-friendly veg???). I told my children to keep re-trying things over time because you can surprise yourself.

Years ago I used to think that little children needed to get down to their maths, reading and writing as early as possible, but when I trained as a Forest School leader I realised how wrong this was, and wish all children could have the freedom to learn in a more natural way without the pressure and stress of the classroom - at least until they're 6 or 7. I've heard that in Scandinavia, where this is more the norm, children of this age who've had a freer experience while very young acquire literacy and numeracy skills quickly (because they're ready for them) and catch up with those who've been hard at it for 2 or 3 years.

I was adamant that I didn't want anymore children after having my second two weeks ago.

I now feeling, overwhelmingly, that I want one more. 🤣