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I completely agree. But might some fraction of such people be “won over” by methods other than logic? Asking them how they got interested, perhaps, and drawing

I completely agree. But might some fraction of such people be “won over” by methods other than logic? Asking them how they got interested, perhaps, and drawing out what in their past caused them to become so obsessed? Or even by redefining the goal of the debate? It may be that I’m giving too much credit and most are truly hopeless. But so often with “people problems” I’ve seen approaches work beautifully and which in retrospect seem obvious. But in the moment I would never have thought up because I was considering things so narrowly.

knzhou 7y ago
In my experience, most of these people are over twice my age and slip into condescension the second I stop laying down logical arguments. If I don't argue against them logically, they invariably walk away triumphant, thinking they've just educated some ignorant young man. It makes the problem worse, so I might as well not talk with them at all. In any case, their stories are all remarkably similar...