Changing people's minds

about anything is difficult, very difficult. Changing public opinion is even more difficult.
If the UK went to a second referendum over Brexit with the option of staying in the EU  the "remain" option might win. My guess is however that it would only win because more people would vote and they would vote to remain. People would not have changed their minds about remain or leave there would simply be more people who realise that they actually need to say they want to say. Last time they simply assumed that "everyone" thought the same way they do.
One of our neighbours was clearly shocked yesterday when I told her that I didn't agree with a point of view she holds. She simply assumed that I would of course agree with her. I am aware her political views are much more extreme than mine and I am usually very cautious about saying anything to her.
Nothing I say to this woman is going to change her mind. It is unlikely that anything could change her mind. She could be met by a group of highly educated people who have studied in depth the issue she raised. It would make no difference. Her mind is made up.
The strange thing is that she is a well educated woman. She has been to university herself. 
Even stranger is the fact that she is not the only person like this. We all tend to be the same. Catch us at a vulnerable moment and, if we have not formed an opinion about something or some new (to us) idea comes our way then we are vulnerable to taking on board the idea. We also tend to take on such ideas without analysing them carefully. We will listen to people we know and like and follow their views on a topic. We will listen to "experts" - even when those so-called experts are speaking of matters completely outside their areas of expertise.   If a politician's viewpoint doesn't agree with ours then the politician is wrong, particularly if s/he belongs to a party for which we don't or won't vote.
I have been thinking a lot about all this recently. My cousin's partner and I had a long talk about Brexit recently. He lives and, until recently, worked in London. He was a very senior legal officer in a very large financial institution.  I had assumed he would be opposed to Brexit. He had views about the financial implications which surprised me.
I have no reason to disbelieve him when he says those views are widely held in financial circles. If those views are proved correct then I wonder what people will believe ten years from now? My guess is that they will still believe much the same as before.