evidence does not change (most) minds
For decades, I’ve been writing articles, essays, blog posts, books, and more. Two of my books are annotated history texts.
I’ve given public talks and run a podcast. I’ve been interviewed more times (TV, radio, online, print, etc) than I can remember.
You’d think by now, I’d be aware that most folks are unmoved by documentable evidence.
This proclivity hit hyperdrive with the invention of the public relations industry in the early 1900s. However, a more recent example really drives home the point.
Three years ago, billions of people willingly and enthusiastically surrendered their rights, their livelihoods, their privacy, their bodily autonomy, and in some cases, their lives — without seeing any verifiable evidence for doing so.
They cut off friends and family members because the news told them to.
They lined up for a dangerous, untested injection without asking for a shred of proof.
During that same time, qualified groups and individuals provided an abundance of accessible evidence that easily countered every step imposed upon us. This is what most people did:
It’s not easy for someone like me — who enjoys doing research and has always been detail-oriented — to accept this, but: Very few people are influenced by evidence.
This includes those who claim to be either awake or woke.
No wonder Jesus spoke in parables…
Great post! For years, I tried to deny this very thing. The evidence was overwhelming and the same basic lesson (Hume's) played out over and over again: reason is the slave to the passions. That's the norm. The only way I can see to break free is through good works; as non-judgmental examples; as conviviality; for the joy of it. Mickey, your project providing direct relief to homeless women fits that very well.
The condition of people who will not accept a logical argument is zombified. In other words they have become the undead, bereft of a soul and they are legion. Great podcast at the bar BTW. I appreciate that you are an ideological/political free agent who is still on that lifelong quest for solutions, not more problems.
Cheers Mickey Z.