Hi, Sam here.
Welcome to Radio Headspace.
Recently, when I started talking about astrology with a friend, my husband began poking fun at us.
He finds astrology to be utter nonsense,
and is upset by people being taken advantage of because of their belief in it.
There are some points of his that I agree with, but I am also open to possibilities,
and I just enjoy talking about astrology without being rigidly attached to it.
I've tried to convince him to join in the fun of discussing horoscope signs,
but he just doesn't see any value in it, and that's okay.
This experience got me thinking about the urge to change someone's mind.
Can you think of a time that you were actually able to change someone's mind about something?
In the world we live in now with serious topics being discussed online among people who don't even know each other,
it's hard to imagine how to begin challenging rigid opinions in a meaningful and effective way.
As I began thinking about this,
I was reminded of a term that I learned in graduate school, called transformative learning.
The American sociologist, Jack Mesero, came up with this theory,
and he described it as a process of changing one's frame of reference by reflecting on assumptions and beliefs.
And from there, you can come up with new ways of seeing things.
So essentially,
transformative learning is all about being willing to stay open to others' perspectives and challenge our own assumptions and beliefs.