We’re told these days that it’s virtually impossible to change people’s minds – that we all suffer from “confirmation bias” viz screening out arguments which don’t confirm what we already believe about an issue. This has become the latest conventional wisdom of pop psychology - but needs to be strongly questioned. Believe that and all argument is pointless. But argument can be productive – if conducted the right way.
Respect is what makes the difference – walk away from anyone whose tone is dismissive or belittling.
Pity they don’t teach rhetoric at schools any more – we could all do with some basic lessons in logic and argumentation. I’m delighted that an increasing number of authors are rising to the challenge and offering good texts on the subject.
It helps to show you’re listening – and one of the “tricks” is to summarise what (you think) your interlocuteur has just said. It proves you’ve made the effort to listen and are treating them with respect
Take a lesson from the radio chat-show presenters eg James O’Brien of LBC who recently asked a Brexit supporter why he had felt so good about the results of the 2016 Referendum – “what”, he asked, “was the single thing that you felt would be so marvellous that the UK would no longer be required to do?”
In 9 minutes, the caller could not identify a single thing and kept repeating that he had signed up only to “a common market” which, of course, the Single Market gave him. A Master Class in the sort of relentless questioning to which Brexit supporters need to be exposed – with the one reservation that O’Brien’s face hardly shows the respect required!
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