RE: Can Irrational people Be Persuaded with Rationality?
July 7, 2013 at 2:13 am
(This post was last modified: July 7, 2013 at 2:46 am by evenheathen.)
As a somewhat new to atheism contributor, I can say that the tendency towards cognitive dissonance is easy as a believer.
I've had many conversations with atheists (as a believer) in the past, and brushing off arguments is easy when you don't have any good reason to question your beliefs.
It took having kids and wanting nothing more than to be able to be absolutely honest and sure about my answers to them when I was questioned about life to really take a good look at what it is I believe in.
You're not ready to deal with reality until reality is important enough to you to get right.
So no, reason only works for people that are ready to be reasonable. Personal beliefs are impenetrable until the armor is taken off.
I've had many conversations with atheists (as a believer) in the past, and brushing off arguments is easy when you don't have any good reason to question your beliefs.
It took having kids and wanting nothing more than to be able to be absolutely honest and sure about my answers to them when I was questioned about life to really take a good look at what it is I believe in.
You're not ready to deal with reality until reality is important enough to you to get right.
So no, reason only works for people that are ready to be reasonable. Personal beliefs are impenetrable until the armor is taken off.
But now I have come to believe that the whole world is an enigma, a harmless enigma that is made terrible by our own mad attempt to interpret is as though it had an underlying truth.
Umberto Eco
Umberto Eco
