What Have Been Your Biggest Changes of Mind? (Translated from Zhihu)

The following are translations of seven replies to the Zhihu question “What have been your biggest changes of mind?”, presented in the order of the supplied screenshots. The translations follow the visible text; author names and publication or edit times are taken from the screenshots. No links to the question or individual answers were provided.

Zhihu user 木头君, edited October 29, 2026, at 10:16:

December 7

A makeshift hospital was abandoned less than a week after it opened

For the next six months, every time I passed that unused, pitch-dark site that had cost a hundred million, I couldn't help reflecting on it

The last time I passed, it had been cleared out and turned into a parking lot

That period really changed a lot of my thinking

Zhihu user Vien, edited November 4, 2026, at 08:24:

The three years of the pandemic showed me the true face of many things.

Everything I'd previously learned about politics and history

was repeatedly torn down and rebuilt over those three years,

laying the foundation for the way I think now.

There were many things I still hadn't figured out during those three years,

but I kept reflecting on that valuable experience afterward,

and now I can stay clearheaded whatever I encounter.

I'm glad that while I was still young,

I got to be taught such a valuable lesson.

Zhihu user ncc21382, published October 23, 2026, at 17:20:

I gradually came to realize that Chinese-style family life and schooling don't really treat you as a person, and that many things, society included, aren't as wonderful as the propaganda makes them sound. That led me to ask why things were this way. As I thought and explored, trying to figure it all out, my understanding of the world also began to change.

Author 知乎用户 pZgyIDE, edited November 2, 2026, at 09:52:

Back in '22, I was working in Shanghai and nearly starved to death. The announcement said April 1–April 5, just four days, but the lockdown lasted until June 1. I'd only stocked up on five days of food, and I didn't receive the community's first food distribution until April 18.

I couldn't get any groceries. When I called the police, they told me to contact the community office, but nobody answered the phone there. I was ready to force my way through a checkpoint just to get prison food. When you're desperate to survive, nothing else matters.

By the end of the year, everything reopened and it was time for herd immunity. Sometimes, when you're speechless, you really do laugh.

Ever since then, sacrificing individual interests for a collective victory has left me cold. That victory may well not belong to me, but I could be the one who pays the price.

Zhihu user Simon, published September 14, 2026, at 00:49:

When I learned that Ford had introduced a five-day, 40-hour workweek in 1926, a hundred years ago, that made it the greatest car company.

Zhihu user 无孩爱猫男, published August 26, 2026, at 12:42:

My dad, though, went through a tiny change of mind.

2022: It's all a conspiracy by the Americans. They can't stand to see us Chinese doing well.

2023: You see things more clearly when you listen to different sides. What Americans say isn't necessarily all wrong.

The original uses 阴毛 (“pubic hair”), which sounds similar to 阴谋 (“conspiracy”).

Zhihu user 一禅, published November 5, 2026, at 01:18:

I used to strongly support Palestinian resistance organizations, including Hamas.

But then I learned that Israel had treated Chinese workers who had entered the country illegally well, and made very generous arrangements following accidental deaths. I was deeply moved.

Soon after, I saw a statement from an Israeli leader: We stand between civilians and danger; they put civilians between themselves and danger. Tell me, who is truly evil?

From then on, I became a die-hard fan of Israel!