How not to be a crank: rules for not being a science-dick

Re:How not to be a crank: rules for not being a science-dick by TheOtherHobbes on Sunday March 04, 2018 @04:42PM (#16516946)

What makes you think people understand the reasons for their own beliefs? How do you know the reasons they give you when asked are the correct ones? Why do you believe that challenging those statements respectfully will change their minds?

The actual requirement for persuasion is a believable narrative with a bit of moral weight, and a random selection of standard persuasive tricks that politicians and lawyers have been deploying with outrageous success for millennia.

Generally, being objectively correct is one of the least effective ways to change anyone's mind. You might have some hope in a scientific setting. But in popular debate, facts and rationality are almost completely powerless.

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Re:How not to be a crank: rules for not being a science-dick by zaphar on Sunday March 04, 2018 @07:14PM (#16517695)

I don't know that challenging them respectfully will change their minds. After all what if they are right?

I do know that not challenging them respectfully is unlikely to persuade anyone least of all yourself.

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