Encapsulation getters and setters

That is quite an obscure question...so I will attempt to rephrase what I think you are asking.

Why is it that a person has said to me, "getters() and setters() allow you to change your mind later without breaking anybody else's code"?

I believe they are attempting to let you know that if a the developer of a class provides getter() and setter() methods, then later the values can be altered and the code doesn't need to be changed.

Since you are mentioning them as getters() and setters() I'm guessing you are talking about Java so here is an example:

public class Animal {
  private string name;
  private int age;
  public Animal (string name, int age){
     this.age = age;
     this.name = name;
  }
}

Without the getters() and setters() the code above can only read and/or set the values of age and name when the object is constructed.

However, if you add accessor methods (getters and setters) then you will be able to set the values after the object is constructed. And you'll be able to read those values.

that is my best guess.