this post was submitted on 06 Jun 2024
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Don't argue with idiots!
As Mark Twain said:
"Never argue with an idiot. They will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience."
I agree with the principle, but not in the same way.
It feels good to portray another person as an "idiot" or obviously wrong. Feels superior and legitimate.
The lesson for me has been: people are allowed to have their own thoughts and opinions, no matter how ill-informed I think they are. It is going to be just as difficult to force them to believe my opinion, as it would be for me to believe their position. So shouting "facts" and "logic" doesn't work at all. If you can get over branding someone an idiot you might be able to listen to why they actually believe such misguided information, but this would take non-judgemental questioning.
So I agree: stop arguing with people.
You cannot make people change their minds in a single sitting. You should aim to be less closed minded than they are. Stop thinking of others as "idiots" to begin with.
If you're really interested in diving into this, here's the first of a 3 part series talking about how to have difficult conversations with people who see the world differently, how to have better debates about contentious issues, and how to ethically and scientifically persuade one another about things that matter โ in short, this is a three-part series about How Minds Change.
https://youarenotsosmart.com/2023/03/06/yanss-254-how-to-have-productive-conversations-in-a-polarized-political-environment/
(I'm not affiliated with the podcast or this guy's books.....I just listen to a lot of cognitive science podcasts)