Some rushed thoughts on...

Making Arguments

As people, we are prone to many fallacies all over the place. One of which is putting logic above all else.

We tell ourselves “If I just think through the problem enough, I can seal every foreseeable hole and 'win'the argument.”

That's highly unlikely, for two notable reasons:

1) While good at forming arguments, we do not possess the omnipotence to really see every conceivable aspect of an issue at once. The world is huge and complicated and chock-full of grey areas to work around.

2) People are NOT creatures of pure logic. We are emotional animals, which means we can bear the most amazing, well thought out, air tight argument the world has ever known, and STILL reject it just because of feelings.

Given these realities, it might add some perspective as to why it's a Herculean task to change someone's mind. And I fear the only advice I can offer is to try to appeal to all parts of a person. Connect on their level, as best as possible, to see what feelings fuel some of their beliefs, and maybe address them if you can.

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