Depends on which way you change your mind ..... if you had decided to stop smoking and not give your kids lung cancer, but then thought wtf let them suffer and then went back to smoking I would see that as a sign of weakness

this is more in the political realm, although I agree with you Nigee, lung cancer can be an unfortunate result of changing one's mind

Webdip rule no. 1 never back down

As with all things political, those opposed to you will say it's a sign of weakness, and those who support you will say it's a sign of strength. The general public are a far more sensible bunch and will support a change of mind if it is one they approve of, and slate it if it's one they don't.

Well I mean for tough gray area problems (like the events of Hiroshima and Nagasaki) there is always a considerable level of opinion change ;it's part of the process we as humans use to mature as individuals and as we grow older and learn more we either strengthen our prior opinions or completely develope new ones. Think of it like this ; most of us believed in some childhood fantasy at one time, then we learned new information and developed to realize it was not true. So over time your opinion may change 3, 4, or an infinite number of times. The important thing is to never let your opinions prevent you from compromise and subsequently progress.

Also remember it depends what perspective you are viewing an issue from. If you are viewing the Nagasaki Hiroshima issue from a civilian perspective then it was totally an uncalled for military slaughter of innocent people; if you view it from the military perspective it is a nessecary military operation that saved the lives of millions of American and Japanese nationals. Depending on the facts you have been dealt and your life experience you may take up either or a completely different opinion.

The best way to achieve the general scorn and contempt of nearly everyone, of course, is to change your mind and change it back again.

I disagree with Octavious, because it seems that the political arena seems to present it as a sign of weakness or opportunism that must be avoided at all cost. Individuals in politics come up with elaborate explanations to explain away the fact that they simply changed their mind as seen with John Kerry Hillary Clinton Mitt Romney, etc. Why do you have to spend 30 minutes explaining that your opinion naturally "evolved," when you can simply say, "I changed my mind, haven't you?"

Because politicians like people to think they've given the issues a lot of personal thought and careful attention.

@octvius this I why people should work to counter that by supporting leaders who openly change opinions.

The problem is less changing one's mind and more changing one's mind and acting just as certain about your moral superiority as before. There's also the issue of the scale of 'mind-changing' and 'mind-changing' conveniently occurring when it offers greater access to power. Trotskyists are rather notorious for one day railing against American miltiarism to the next day become hard-right neocons.

Sorry if this makes me a dogmatist but I'm rather skeptical of such born-again stories, and I don't respect it.

But if the mind-changing is that you come across new information and change your view on an issue, then fine. Just don't go around demonizing your former comrades about how they're the worst, most irrational people on the planet for not changing theirs.

And to answer the question of mind-changing, yes I have changed my mind on a number of issues.

1 - I used to think religion had a positive or at least neutral role to play in society, I no longer do.
2 - I used to think green politics/environmentalism was a bourgeois lifestyle choice of the privileged, I no longer do.
3 - I used to think rehabilitation and decriminalization was the best way of dealing with various crime problems, I no longer do.
4 - I used to think identity politics (GLBTQ rights for example) was a way of privileged people laying false or inflated claims of oppression as a sort of status symbol/method of silencing people, and a way to distract people from the primary problem of class struggle. I no longer do.
5 - I have struggled very deeply with the question of Israel and what the proper orientation should be towards it. I have changed my mind on this issue more than once.
6 - The most radical change of all is my orientation towards European imperialism in the 19th century. I no longer believe it was objectively exploitative and instead think it conferred some progressive benefits. Also I believe its development was largely accidental.

Definitely weakness to change your mind

Actually, upon reconsideration, maybe it's a strength.

I agree with Putin's post about mind-changing. I think mind-changing by a politician *can* (but need not, depending on the context) appear blatantly opportunistic, and raise legitimate concerns about whether any of his positions, past or present, was actually principled and will actually be adhered to when it becomes inconvenient to do so again in the future.

But of course, it's certainly possible for a politician to change his mind for good reasons. A good start for showing that that happened would be explaining the good reasons.

Things I've changed my mind on:

1) I used to find the doctrinaire Republican case against illegal immigrants compelling. I no longer do. (My positions on this would still be moderate conservative).

2) I used to think George W. Bush's use of executive powers was reasonable and unconcerning, and I no longer do. However, while I'm also concerned about the current administration's abuses (as I see them), I recognize that its supporters have the same motivations not to see them that way that I had when Bush was President, so I can't well complain if they deny such abuses. I only hope that the next President, whoever that may be, will be held accountable by people of both parties for their use of executive power.

3) I feel pretty ambivalent about what the legal status of various drugs should be, and my opinion could be described as a slow oscilation without high confidence. I hope that it will settle and my confidence increase. Arguments on this board have been among several that have augmented this ambivalence.

4) I have come to accept the Miami Heat's right to exist, although I'm not at all happy about it.

Changing your opinions when presented with new facts is a positive attribute, one that two few people posses.

"2 - I used to think green politics/environmentalism was a bourgeois lifestyle choice of the privileged, I no longer do. "
It is:
Green energy is more expensive, which hurts those living in poverty. There is no evidence that organic food is more nutritious or better for the environment then conventional foods. Organic food is more expensive which, again, hurts those living in poverty.

Much of the green movement is based little on fact and more on what the privileged hippies believe we should be doing.

Putin's post just earned him a mute. Lol @ number 6.

As for what I've changed my mind on:

1. I used to think that religion was opiate of the masses and irrational - I no longer do.
2. I used to believe in Charles Darwin's misconstrued "survival of the fittest" - I no longer do. <- likewise to the 'religion of science'.
3. I used to believe that the world was progressively getting worse - I no longer do.
4. I used to believe that there was a right and wrong answer to everything - I no longer do.
5. I used to think that you needed to earn lots of money to be happy - I no longer do.

Perhaps my biggest two:
6. I used to be afraid of people looking at me, of being judged or laughed at, I was afraid of the night and of the city. Now I am not afraid.
7. I used to think that school and careers and money was so damned important, and I've come to value health and happiness far greater.

"Putin's post just earned him a mute. Lol @ number 6."

Glad to see you're still open-minded there, Mr. Open-Minded.

LOL @ Semck's #4.

Neither, it's a sign of flexibility.

Bron Bron gonna get his 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th rings next five years baby #LifeLongHeatFan #CutDwyaneWade #JordanAintTheGOAT

As for the OP, as with basically everything it depends, but acknowledging a past mistake and changing your mind as a result is most certainly a sign of strength to me. I expect that in a leader. I can see where quickly changing one's mind a lot about a given issue indicates weakness, but in the most common political sense, where someone gets called a "flip-flopper" or the like for changing his or her position on a stance on an issue, I think it's mostly bogus and I hate hearing the phrase. One might change support for that person running for office given the change in stance, but it's not a sign of weakness to me.

Lebron is the GOAT but he doesn't need to know that.