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I'm enchanted by your suggestion that if we can just give everyone enough facts they'll start to act thoughtfully. I'll continue to blend my understanding of r

• bumby 7y ago
  >I'm enchanted by your suggestion that if we can just give everyone enough facts they'll start to act thoughtfully That's not really what I said though. I know there's some people who think this (ahem Peter Attia) but it flies in the face of my own experience and what limited reading I've done in behavioral psychology. I don't think people act as rational agents objectively assessing each piece of information. Which is all the more reason to believe they will dismiss any of your points if you give them reason to maintain their confirmation bias. When we aren't accurate with our statements of "fact", it opens the door to exactly that. There's lots of people who do that. While it may fuel their feelings of self-righteousness, I have doubts as to whether it actually changes anyone's mind. To the contrary, I tend to believe it just makes the other side more entrenched in their own ideas.