Pride would rather protect yesterday’s mistake than admit today learned something.

Pride has a strange preference for consistency over accuracy. It would rather keep defending a position from a year ago than acknowledge that you now know more, because acknowledging the new knowledge means admitting the old position was incomplete. The cost is that your intelligence goes into protecting the past instead of using the present.

When you notice yourself defending a stance you no longer quite hold, say so out loud. Changing your mind in public is a small embarrassment that buys you a lot of freedom. Most people respect it more than they respect the consistency.