(December 18, 2018 at 8:55 pm)Scientia Wrote: So my question is: how do you engage in a discussion with these people without it derailing? It's as if they were willfully ignoring or filtering some information, I don't really get it. I'm not really trying to convert them, but rather trying to understand the reasoning that leads them to believe in whatever religion... but no matter how hard I try to understand, their logic is just not in order. Sometimes I'm literally asking them to help me believe in their religion, but every time it's just not enough information to warrant any belief.
You don't.
A part of the indoctrination scheme is that they deny logic that defies their faith, because most believers have been swayed by emotion and/or indoctrination. And as Sam Harris points out, what piece of logic are you gonna present someone unconvinced by logic?
Not all believers are this way, mind. Some genuinely believe on, what they perceive, logical arguments and proofs, which it is possible to have a debate with. But in my experience, those are few and far between.
"The first principle is that you must not fool yourself — and you are the easiest person to fool." - Richard P. Feynman
