[extropy-chat] Changing Other Poster's Minds

[Heartland]

Heartland:
>> The reality is that it takes many steps to change someone's mind.
>> At each step you need to convince him/her of some point that is
>> necessary to build your argument. It's a slow process that could
>> take years or even decades depending on how emotionally
>> attached a person is to his/her irrational beliefs...

Lee:
> Tch, tch, tch.  You don't get it.  The other beliefs are *not* irrational.
> I wish that you and John Clark could see this. It's possible that they're
> not even incorrect.  It's possible that it's a "conflict of visions" sort of
> phenomenon.

Perhaps I should have said "illogical" or "inconsistent" instead of "irrational."

Lee:
> But it does *not* mean that the discussions are futile. They not only
> accomplish what I just described, but allow each of us to analyse and
> consistentize (if I may coin a term) our positions, and within our own
> schemes seek a more rational stable position.

Exactly. The progress in this debate does not necessarily come in the form of 
someone changing his/her mind, but almost exclusively in the form of increased 
clarity of our own thinking and increased ability to communicate our beliefs to 
others that are byproducts of frequent interaction with our critics. Over the years 
I was forced to update my argument many times in order to remove inconsistencies 
that I was not aware of at the time. Almost all updates/upgrades were 
caused/inspired by other poster's comments. Also, what used to take me 20-40 posts 
to describe, now takes 1 or 2. To me, that's progress.

H.