Maybe don’t always just take their word for it. Some (most?) people will continue to express their view vocally, but the fact of encountering an opinion from someone they otherwise find a reasonable and sane person will cause introspection and adjustment, and maybe in a different group they would express an adjusted opinion. Most people are always affected by others (excluding sociopaths or other unusual cases).

In person when you can communicate tone and know there is a level of mutual trust, I would generally agree.

Over the past few years I’ve even begun to wonder about that though.