True wisdom enables a person to incorporate new information into previous understanding. When you know a subject well, you are able to modify your views as new information becomes available. When you have a superficial understanding, you are not able to do so. I have recently seen people ignorantly discard the time-honored wisdom of the ages because of some little piece of data. The data may have been true enough and may have appropriately caused a modification in their understanding of the subject--but that would require deep, independent thinking, a rare commodity in our day. Willingness to embrace new opinions is no more an indicator of thought than stubbornly clinging to old ones.
Traditionalists tenaciously hold to their old beliefs even in the face of new information.
Conservatives carefully incorporate new information into their theories.
Liberals use new data to throw out old theories and completely replace them.
Progressives want change whether there is any data to support their agenda or not.
The only one of these positions that requires thinking is the conservative one.
If you call yourself a conservative and don’t think, you are actually a traditionalist.
If you are liberal or progressive and do think, you will become more and more conservative as you get older.
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