[ExI] vote changes and fun

[BillK]

On 3 June 2016 at 17:39, William Flynn Wallace  wrote:
<snip>
> However, if a person has been exposed not only to his own point of view but
> the other side as well, a two-sided communication, then he is much harder to
> flip.  If in addition, he has been exposed to counterarguments to the other
> side, then he maybe be impossible even to move one little bit towards the
> other side, and you may be in danger of making his position even firmer
> where he is, or even moving him farther away from the other side.  (This can
> go on:  counterarguments to the counterarguments etc.)
>
> So - while these discussions of Trump and Hillary are interesting, I'll bet
> any amount that no one's position will be changed.  Y'all are too smart and
> know too much (and, I think, may suspect much more than you know about
> Hillary).
>
> Fun?  Yes.  Persuasive?  Not in a coon's age.
>
>


See: Backfire Effect
<http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Backfire_effect>

Quote:
The backfire effect occurs when, in the face of contradictory
evidence, established beliefs do not change but actually get stronger.
The effect has been demonstrated experimentally in psychological
tests, where subjects are given data that either reinforces or goes
against their existing biases - and in most cases people can be shown
to increase their confidence in their prior position regardless of the
evidence they were faced with.
In a pessimistic sense, this makes most refutations useless.
------------

That's why politics and religion arguments are mostly a waste of time.

BillK