• Leviathan@lemmy.world
    3·
    11 months ago

    I try real hard to not only change my mind but vocally (typographically) acknowledge when I was wrong because it’s so goddamnit rare and infuriating.

    • aStonedSanta@lemm.ee
      1·
      11 months ago

      Same here. I work in tech and you’d be amazed how many people are so much less on guard around me because of this.

    • shneancy@lemmy.world
      1·
      11 months ago

      same here, even when someone hasn’t changed my mind 100% I’ll often acknowledge if any of their arguments made me want to delve deeper into a topic and think more about my opinion on it

  • SuddenDownpour@sh.itjust.works
    3·
    11 months ago

    Humans are rationalizing creatures, much more than rational ones. Our first gut reaction is trying to make sense of why we think what we think and why we behave how we behave, rather than trying to figure out if it does actually make sense. If this natural tendency could be changed, the world would be far less of a shithole.

    • Track_Shovel@slrpnk.netEnglish
      1·
      11 months ago

      This is why, rather than slapping people in the face with a mountain of research, I try to ask them questions that lead them to the conclusion I want them to reach. Oh we discuss along the way, but you get a lot less of the black and white thinking bold statements that someone entrenched in their beliefs tends to make

      • mipadaitu@lemmy.worldEnglish
        1·
        11 months ago

        The research backs up your statement. Especially if you yourself are genuinely interested in the conversation, and also willing to update your own thinking, along with helping get everyone in the conversation to start understanding the real answers.

        In case you haven’t listened to it, the You Are Not So Smart podcast covers the topic of how to get people to change on a pretty regular basis. It’s a great podcast that talks a lot about conspiracies, misinformation, and how to combat them.

        https://youarenotsosmart.com/podcast/

        My favorite part of this podcast is that if you listen to it from the start (nearly 300 episodes at this point), you can hear him slowly become very jaded and pessimistic, but then as the podcast goes on, he starts turning around his opinion and gets exited and optimistic about all the progress that is made. It’s a really great podcast and makes me excited for the future.

    • rwhitisissle@lemmy.ml
      1·
      11 months ago

      We’re also to some extent innately combative creatures. People will say “Oh, I showed people the facts and they still didn’t change their mind. They’re just idiots stuck in their ways.” Okay, cool. When you tried to present these facts, did you do it in such a way as to treat them courteously or as an equal, or did you do it in such a way that you got to feel like you were dunking on them rhetorically? Because it’s not as simple as presenting someone with facts. It’s doing so in a way that doesn’t make it feel like you’re trying to establish some kind of superiority over them. Because then they’re not presenting facts to you, they’re just attacking you and your position. And these are very different things, conceptually and emotionally.

    • aksdb@feddit.de
      0·
      11 months ago

      That is - IMO - what critical thinking is meant to be … thinking about alternative explanations and evaluating their viability or probability.

      Unfortunately a lot of people use the term “critical thinking” as just another way to rationalize why they are against something, without actually weighing the options.

  • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
    1·
    11 months ago

    An oft-repeated phrase between my friends an I in high school was when a dumb redneck kid told a friend of mine in class, “my opinions is facts.”

  • SpiceDealer@lemmy.world
    1·
    11 months ago

    If there’s one I’ve learned after being on the internet for 17 years, it’s this; you can throw an entire mountain of evidence at a conspiracy theorist and they STILL won’t believe you.

    • isthereany@discuss.online
      0·
      11 months ago

      Meanwhile back in reality…

      • Fluoride in drinking water isn’t safe

      • Iraq doesn’t have WMDs and we destroyed their country killing millions for some other reason

      • The government is spying on everything you do

      • JFK assassination must be shady since they keep refusing to release the final documents on it

      • New world order (globalism) is real and now they openly hold meetings and promote the idea

      • The vaccines were not “safe and effective” and many people were maimed and injured for a non-sterilizing vaccine that could never have stopped COVID

      • UFOs apparently do exist and Congress is admitting it

      • The government is brain washing people (MKUltra)

      • The internet is all bots and shills (Dead internet)

      • Many powerful people are pedophiles

      Just a handful of “crazy conspiracy theories” that are all seemingly accepted as true now.

      • 1ostA5tro6yne@lemmy.blahaj.zone
        0·
        11 months ago

        um… no? no these aren’t all accepted as true now. a couple of those things are, and a couple more are kinda halfway to reality but the rest… dude you need to examine your media diet, someone’s feeding you bullshit

        • isthereany@discuss.online
          0·
          11 months ago

          Many powerful people are pedophiles

          Undeniably true

          The internet is all bots and shills (Dead internet)

          Undeniably true and getting worse every day now

          The government is brain washing people (MKUltra)

          Undeniably true

          UFOs apparently do exist and Congress is admitting it

          Undeniably true, were just halfway to the reality of what they are but weird UFOs apparently do exist

          The vaccines were not “safe and effective” and many people were maimed and injured for a non-sterilizing vaccine that could never have stopped COVID

          Undeniably true. They were saying “safe and effective” before they even knew it had heightened myocarditis risk. The risk to young men in particular is very high and much higher than any risk they faced from COVID.

          New world order (globalism) is real and now they openly hold meetings and promote the idea

          Undeniably true. WEF just had their meeting. Countries are signing away rights to WHO. Politicians openly used the words “new world order” several times during COVID.

          JFK assassination must be shady since they keep refusing to release the final documents on it

          Halfway to reality.

          The government is spying on everything you do

          Undeniably true. There’s a guy in Russia and another in prison in the UK who proved that one already.

          Iraq doesn’t have WMDs and we destroyed their country killing millions for some other reason

          Undeniably true.

          Fluoride in drinking water isn’t safe

          Halfway to reality, it’s already admitted now previous studies to prove safety were deeply flawed, and new studies are showing risk of neurological damage.

          • ArrogantAnalyst@feddit.de
            0·
            11 months ago

            So you just reviewed your own list by writing “Undeniably true” under nearly every bullet point? xD For some reason I find that very funny.

          • Lowlee Kun@feddit.de
            0·
            11 months ago

            Could you link some sources that show how there is a large group of powerful pedophiles? Because for this to be true pedophiles are really not getting any benefits at all which is odd if you ask me. Of course there would be some powerful pedophiles on a planet with 8.000.000.000 People. There also powerful rapists, murderers, holocaust deniers (or is that a hoax too in your opinion), racists etc.