Being a Public Defender

I think its fitting that the first real post is about defending ideas (no offense UVa sports teams...big ups though for almost beating Duke), since that's what I want to avoid most in this blog. Backing up statements with evidence is fine, the problem comes when we think our thoughts are perfect. Charlie Munger (co-founder of Berkshire Hathaway) sums it up in a quote from his 1995 Harvard University speech:

The human mind is a lot like the human egg, and the human egg has a shut off device. When one sperm goes in, it shuts down so the next one can't get in. The human mind has a big tendency to do the same.

What he calls having an ideologically closed mind, I call being a public defender. Each time we make our conclusions public, we're gradually convincing ourselves that its the truth. We are "pounding them into our own heads," in the process making them our own. Pretty soon, when others challenge them, its like they're challenging the truth, and it becomes our responsibility to set them straight. Defense need not involve shouting, just a need to prove yourself right and the other person wrong.

All I am saying is that we should always avoid becoming a public defender. We should have opinions, but only with an accompanying open mind. Otherwise, whats the point in having the discussion?! Anytime I write, I urge myself never to become the defender of my ideas, otherwise, I'll never get to the truth.