Taking an Open Stance
We live in a world where someone can find what you said/wrote at any moment. We are stuck in the mindset of sticking to our statements/stances. This behavior is installed in many of us early on with sports and having unquestionable fanhood for certain teams. But unlike sports allegiance, there are things that could possibly have more consequences.
There is so much negativity and backlash that comes with switching stances even when more details/research come to light. And people will let you know when you do and they may never let you forget. With these repercussions and the angst towards admitting to being wrong, people tend to be close minded. It certainly does not help that people tend to elude change whenever possible. We have to be more tolerant and understanding when people do change perspectives.
One example is the common misconception that the quality of music from vinyl is higher than digital. While vinyl has its own distinct experience and sound, the pure quality of music can easily be higher in a digital format (e.g. dynamic range). But unfortunately, most of the readily available music has been dynamically compressed so the range is great reduced. As a result, most people don't know what high quality music sounds like. But if you ask a group of people which is better, they'll mostly likely say vinyl just because that is what they've grown up to hearing ("nothing beats vinyl"); people seem to refuse to believe that digital music can be higher quality than vinyl.
I am certainly not saying that people should not have their own views/stances/opinions or that they should be easily convinced to switch their perspective. People should become more open to (or even explore) all ideas/viewpoints not only to understand others but to maybe adjust your own mindset or strengthen your own view. It is foolish to stick your views just because that has been your position since you can ever remember. Being open-minded promotes growth as an individual and so much can be learned from those experiences.