“strong feelings about issues do not emerge from deep understanding,”...

[katharsis]

The following quote from the OP's link definitely stood out for me:

"Providing people with accurate information doesn’t seem to help; they simply discount it."

I don't know how many times I have given an opinion or provided information backed up with government statistics or a scholarly article that was the result of research only to be told, in effect, that I was wrong because it did not fall in line with that person's religion or personal belief system or his personal experience. (For example, he "knows" that the Welsh are the world's trashiest people because his neighbor is Welsh and his yard is always full of junk -- that is a fictional example, btw!!)

I confess that I become irritated and frustrated when confronted with such arguments, but I have learned to shrug such opinions off, for the most part. Some people just refuse to be educated, and there is nothing I can do about that.

[momonkey]

Originally Posted by atltechdude

But that’s due to a primarily emotional association that person made with identifying with that party earlier in life.

And exactly what makes you so special?


"Reason is, and ought only to be the slave of the passions, and can never pretend to any other office than to serve and obey them."

~David Hume

[newtovenice]

Originally Posted by katharsis

The following quote from the OP's link definitely stood out for me:

"Providing people with accurate information doesn’t seem to help; they simply discount it."

I don't know how many times I have given an opinion or provided information backed up with government statistics or a scholarly article that was the result of research only to be told, in effect, that I was wrong because it did not fall in line with that person's religion or personal belief system or his personal experience. (For example, he "knows" that the Welsh are the world's trashiest people because his neighbor is Welsh and his yard is always full of junk -- that is a fictional example, btw!!)

I confess that I become irritated and frustrated when confronted with such arguments, but I have learned to shrug such opinions off, for the most part. Some people just refuse to be educated, and there is nothing I can do about that.

Absolutely. Especially when they ASK for the information. And then you support it with a link that THEY will view as credible. And they still argue that the facts don't exist or are somehow 'wrong.'

I had someone tell me that the link I provided gave their computer a virus warning. Um, the link was directly to the website of an organization that they supported! So I was giving them a credible link to a credible organization, and they were still lying about it.

Unbelievable.

[atltechdude]

Originally Posted by momonkey

And exactly what makes you so special?

I always try to reexamine the source of unconscious motivations that most people let control them without a second thought.

[Fern435]

Originally Posted by katharsis

The following quote from the OP's link definitely stood out for me:

"Providing people with accurate information doesn’t seem to help; they simply discount it."

I don't know how many times I have given an opinion or provided information backed up with government statistics or a scholarly article that was the result of research only to be told, in effect, that I was wrong because it did not fall in line with that person's religion or personal belief system or his personal experience. (For example, he "knows" that the Welsh are the world's trashiest people because his neighbor is Welsh and his yard is always full of junk -- that is a fictional example, btw!!)

I confess that I become irritated and frustrated when confronted with such arguments, but I have learned to shrug such opinions off, for the most part. Some people just refuse to be educated, and there is nothing I can do about that.

Great post. It reminds me of an excellent book that I have mentioned on this forum: The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion by Jonathan Haidt.

https://www.amazon.com/Righteous-Min...s%2C179&sr=8-1


Some people judge issues based on how they feel or how their behavior will be viewed by others (virtue signalers definitely do this) and ignore/care very little for the facts and logic that would explain why their positions are flawed.

[GearHeadDave]

Essentially what this is saying is that the instinct to joint the tribe and to protect the tribe easily overwhelms critical thinking and rational reasoning.

The Internet that was vaunted at being the great innovation that would somehow bring us all together and provide a vast resource for knowledge and facts has actually done the opposite. It will be our downfall.

[LesLucid]

Originally Posted by katharsis

The following quote from the OP's link definitely stood out for me:

"Providing people with accurate information doesn’t seem to help; they simply discount it."

I don't know how many times I have given an opinion or provided information backed up with government statistics or a scholarly article that was the result of research only to be told, in effect, that I was wrong because it did not fall in line with that person's religion or personal belief system or his personal experience. (For example, he "knows" that the Welsh are the world's trashiest people because his neighbor is Welsh and his yard is always full of junk -- that is a fictional example, btw!!)

I confess that I become irritated and frustrated when confronted with such arguments, but I have learned to shrug such opinions off, for the most part. Some people just refuse to be educated, and there is nothing I can do about that.

I agree. It seems pointless often times to even bother with debate. I struggle with this constantly and, for myself, have therefore become almost rigidly adherent to believing only those phenomena which have been proven, with best available technology, by hard experimental science. I’ve therefore become a “denier” to many claims which fall outside the realm of experimental science. I’m often viewed not as a skeptic but as a woefully ignorant, or even stupid, cynic by those who “know” better.

I highlighted the one word you put in quotes because I understand what you mean. Most people cannot separate knowledge from belief, even if they understand the difference. It is a HUGE problem and contributes to the behaviors described in the article.