I’ll give you a topic…
“Arguing about politics is pointless. No one ever changes their mind.”
–Miss Anthropy, in an AIM conversation with me today
Discuss.
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I agree. Few are those who want to be wrong, although a factual mistake will sometimes result in an admission that the person was, indeed, mistaken. However, on matters of opinion — which is mostly what political arguments are — most people feel pretty safe in that their opinion is the RIGHT opinion, and the more you argue against them, the more committed they become to defending their position, even if they might feel shaky about it in the face of your arguement. There’s great stigma attached to Being Wrong. People who change their minds are Wishy Washy, unreliable, and otherwise heaped with negative epithets.
Try it on. Guage how you feel when someone flat out tells you that your opinion on some aspect (or the totality) of our political system is completely wrong and you should change it to match his/her opinion.
Well, damn, Sherri said about what I was going to say (only she said it more eloquently).
I have found that at times when I have stated what I use to back up my opinions, but in a non-confrontational manner, I can sometimes get people to at least take it into consideration, though. But changing their opinions?
Not unless the media begins drummng it into them.
Adam you’re an ignorant slut.
Is that an inside joke, or a new political stance?
Debate is not merely for the purpose of conversion but to articulate your differences, which is enlightening to people who are unafraid of divergent opinions.
Unfortuntely, most people are, so they have to shout you down or call you “evil” for believing what you believe.
I know more than one person who has changed their mind on politics after reading something or another on my blog. I’m sure many more have been convinced by Adam’s words. The majority won’t change, especially when the key word is “arguing”. Get someone in a conversation about their core values and whether current policies match them and we might be surprised how many perspectives start to change.