Normalize changing your opinion when presented with new information

Tina Fey's response to David Letterman stood out to me because not only is it a lesson on not needing men's approval, but it's also a lesson on learning and growing from mistakes. The sheet cake bit was one that wasn't met with rave reviews. It was a little tone deaf, and not her best skit. Instead of allowing this skit to be praised by Letterman or excused as being okay, she sticks to her guns and explains what was wrong with it. Instead of being stubborn and searching only for feedback that affirmed or praised the "chunked" skit, she acknowledged that it wasn't great and explained why that wouldn't stop her from learning from it and trying again.

When it comes to sensitive subject matter, or sociopolitical issues, we are all just learning as we go. Everyone is bound to make mistakes, but what leads to personal growth is acknowledging those mistakes, learning from those mistakes, and forming a new opinion about the subject matter after we have learned more about it. Fey was presented with new information, in the negative response she received for the skit, and instead of blindly standing up for the old way that she saw it, she developed a new opinion which she stood by. If we apply Burke's parlor analogy to this: Imagine you walk into the parlor where a heated discussion is taking place about an issue which you're not well educated on. You make a defense based on a snap judgement you make about the conversation that is met with large disapproval. Some may come to your defense, but most believe that your wrong. So let's say you leave and the conversation is still going and maybe continues on to the next day. You don't just decide to never go back and never contribute to the conversation again because your point was wrong or disagreed with, you educate yourself on the subject, learn new information, and change your perspective only to return to the conversation with a new view based on new information you have learned. This is a lot like life and something that I think Fey demonstrates well in her interview with Letterman.