What's sad is that holding different views has become such a flashpoint. I'm quite able to have people question, attack, deride my beliefs without getting emoti

What's sad is that holding different views has become such a flashpoint. I'm quite able to have people question, attack, deride my beliefs without getting emotional about it - who knows, they might even have a point - as if I, or anyone else is any kind of all-seeing, perfectly informed entity that is able to exercise perfect judgement. But as I've learnt here on HN, not everyone else is as happy with having their beliefs challenged, indeed for many the default response is to lash out. It seems to me like people make their mind up about what they prefer, then seek evidence to support this, and then having invested in that viewpoint and built their worldview around it they will go to great lengths to defend it, even in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary. I'm sure I'm as prone to this as anyone else! If only people were a bit slower to assert their beliefs as correct.