Is Changing Your Mind a Sign of Growth or Opportunism?

I’ve learned quite a bit over the years on framing, reframing, and persuasion from following Scott Adams.

Yet, I’ve come across a frame I can’t quite figure out — the response to someone changing their mind.

The first frame comes from John Maynard Keynes who famously said, “When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do?”

The second frame comes from smack dab in the middle of our current political circus. When asked about JD Vance changing his mind on Trump, Pete Buttigieg replied, “So, I knew a lot of people like him when I got to Harvard. I found a lot of people like him would say whatever needed to get ahead.”

Which is the stronger frame? Someone who changed their mind because the facts changed, or they may have been wrong? Or someone who changes their mind to get ahead?

I imagine it’s a lot like George Carlin’s “Everybody driving slower than me is an idiot, and everyone driving faster than me is a maniac.”

My guess is the stronger frame ends up being from whatever tribe you align with. People in your tribe change their mind because they’re smart, people in not in your tribe change their mind because they’ll say whatever it takes to get ahead.

Does it even matter? And at this point, what difference does it make?

Either way, I found it interesting. But in the end, not my circus, not my clowns.