This is great. I don't have much to add specifically to the topic, other than to say I've been quite moved lately when contemplating the gem that LW has been for me. I received quite the input on my recent request for help, and stumbled across something recently talking about how important sharing intimate struggles and information is in terms of bonding.
I think a lot of the reason this doesn't happen save for a few close friends is the issue of feeling "safe" sharing such information. We fear that since no one looks like on the outside how we feel on the inside -- they couldn't possibly understand or accept us and our grab bags of traits and beliefs. But it is happening... right here.
This has meant especially much to me in thinking about the general view that the non-religious (I know not everyone here is, but a lot are, and I have recently become one) have no camaraderie or support to provide. This is just plain wrong, I'm pleased to say. While the general tone here at least strikes me as quasi "cold and intellectual" (but isn't that the nature of most of the topics, anyway?), hearts come out to play quite frequently when individuals share loss, struggles, and their softer sides.
I've been blown away. A post like this, while perhaps aimed at something as far from the emotional side of things as "I was wrong about FAI"... also means that a community has formed in which all of the typical fears about being wrong can be dissolved and reassured away.
This is a community aimed at helping, not the ostracizing derision that is feared in our mental movies. While I think it's quite natural to have inclinations of pride that sway us from admitting mistakes, it's fantastic to be part of a community where one can look at the supposed self-preservation provided by such an instinct, see it's ineffectiveness, and then admit, "Schucks... I was wrong about that, too."
Thanks for the reminder and encouragement.
At a recent meetup, we tried having a structured discussion in which we would all choose to talk about a belief that influences our behavior, talk about something we protect, or talk about a mistake we once made and have corrected. And it seemed that people thought it would require exceptional bravery to choose to talk about one's mistake. Elsewhere on Less Wrong, people are concerned about retaining the ability to edit a comment expressing a position they later reconsider and think is wrong.
My first reaction to all of this is that we need a group norm so that it doesn't require bravery to admit a mistake, or to leave a record of previously held positions. My second reaction is that we do in fact have such a norm. Comments expressing a change in position, that accept counter arguments and refutations, get up voted. Old comments reflecting the old wrong position are generally not down voted for being wrong. The problem is not how we treat people that make mistakes, but that people have inaccurate anticipations of how we will react.
So, to everyone who is worried about this, I want to say: It's OK. You can admit your mistakes. You can make a mistake and change your mind. We, the community, will applaud your growth, celebrate your new strength, and leave your mistake in the past where it belongs.