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Opening Closed Minds

People who peddle and profess irrational belief systems and fixed mentalities thrive on information that feeds and informs their illogical conclusions. This, they do in forums, groups, blogs or pages with like minded people. Pro reason discourse should also build, as is being done online, evidenced based defenses, logical and philosophical counter arguments to whatever crap these people preach. Ignorant people may seem impervious to new information and logic mostly because they belong to a misinformed or self deluding clique that thrives on feeding itself with any kind of information that supports its preferred bias or ideology. How does one challenge such a school of thought? Is it a waste of time to stand up to people who strengthen their beliefs, however delusional, the moment the same is challenged? How does one open a closed mind without being condescending? Is there a credible way that doesn’t involve ridicule to do so? Or is it that being condescending and ridiculing the closed mind’s belief system, ideas and arguments the only way?

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Permalink Reply by booklover on May 3, 2012 at 4:02pm

I have tried gently using reason. I have tried sarcasm. I have tried stating my case rationally. I have tried stating my case in anger against the insanity of religious-beliefs. I have found nothing that works. If people want to believe that crap, they are going to believe that crap no matter what. It's a sad situation. And scary that there are so many more of "them", than there are of "us".

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Permalink Reply by booklover on May 4, 2012 at 3:57pm

lol Don :)

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Permalink Reply by Kevin on May 3, 2012 at 4:07pm

Daniel Kahneman has proven it with his development of behavioral economics: we're irrational creatures who form our opinions before we have our facts. And with the internet? Forget it. Some submental will take the opinion of a man in a bunker blogging from "Conspiracytheory.net" over anything that might challenge their views. Confirmation bias rues the world.