Maxim: Opinions

Now here is a great way to think, and something I’ve tried to follow but failed to articulate that well.

“Have strong opinions, which are weakly held.”

It reminds me of an article I read maybe a year ago. The idea of Malcolm Gladwell writing about Steven Levitt drew me in immediately, as any such intersection of smart people does. This stuck with me:

It was a straightforward back-and-forth. Levitt got up and made his case. I got up and made mine. But halfway through, I glanced over at Levitt and had a realization that I’m not sure I’ve ever had before with an intellectual opponent—that if I made my case persuasively and cogently enough, he would change his mind.

Emphasis mine. Because it is refreshing, and that is a feeling you don’t get very often with intellectuals.