• RindoGang@lemmygrad.ml
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    13
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    6 days ago

    I don’t think arguments change people’s minds, most of the time people avoid the truth because it makes them uncomfortable or because there’s a strong underlying emotion behind their reaction

    The problem isn’t logic…

    • La Dame d'Azur@lemmygrad.ml
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      17
      ·
      6 days ago

      I see where you’re coming from and partly agree but I think it’s wrong to suggest that no one can ever be persuaded by any sort of argumentative reasoning. People are neither rational nor irrational; we’re all capable of being sensible and senseless at any given moment. It is entirely possible to change people’s minds about things no matter how stubborn they might be. The fact I’m a communist today is living proof of this. It wasn’t so long ago I saw Bernie Sanders as my savior, China as the enemy, and Stalin as a monster. I held these beliefs firmly for many years until I was confronted with too many questions that I didn’t have answers for and in the pursuit of those answers had my entire worldview flipped on its head.

      I’m not saying everyone will be persuaded by logic or facts but I’m also not saying I’m a special case either. Some people can be reached - even on the internet. We won’t know unless we make the earnest attempt.

      • RindoGang@lemmygrad.ml
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        8
        arrow-down
        2
        ·
        6 days ago

        My brother is a liberal, and I’ve argued with him many times. He often just goes silent, and despite all our discussions, he never changes his mind. I eventually realized that logic wasn’t the issue

        It was discomfort. A fear of confronting truths his worldview was built to avoid

        • drunkenmonkie2@lemmygrad.ml
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          8
          ·
          6 days ago

          I think also people don’t like being told what to think. I also used to be a liberal and when I went through the youtube/tiktok leftist rabbit hole I felt like if I had just discovered the truth, but I later realized that I had already heard most of those arguments from my communist friend, just like your brother had heard from you. For some reason I didn’t want to hear the truth from someone who I had known my whole life, but hearing it from internet strangers who sound/look like an authority on the subject, and thinking that I had discovered them on my own was what pushed me over the edge.

    • RindoGang@lemmygrad.ml
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      9
      ·
      6 days ago

      Because I can bet that if we all actually changed our minds from arguments alone, without any effort, we would be in a much better place than we are right now