An altruistic motivation? I mean, I can’t say that isn’t one of my motivations, but if I’m honest banging my head against a wall usually has a more egocentric cause. I get invested in their changing and the lack of it bugs me on a more personal level. And frankly I am extremely skeptical that much good is done for the world in the manner of
I discussed things in a philosophy (or political) online forum and they changed their minds and now polices, practices and attitudes out there IRL are a little bit better. I don’t think people learn that way - experiential components are much more important, I think. And also the very process can have the opposite effect, that they harden into opinions.
This can even be couched neutrally, without evaluating the opposed arguments. I mean, it might be true that the better the argument the more backfire, but I think poor arguments will seem to confirm also. One of the most common phenomena I encounter online is that people think that because their opponents argument is weak, their own argument is right. This is especially clear when I find myself in a third position or agnostic and watch people justify their own positions by asserting that the other position is false, when in fact it is a false dillema. Both could be false. And even when one needs to be correct (iow the options are binary) two terrible arguments are competeing and neither is sound.
I think smart people are actually some of the most stubborn creatures on earth. They are so good at complexifying arguments and coming up with new attacks and defenses, it is much harder to make them uncomfortable. And sometimes, at least, they seem so sure of their having ‘open minds’ that when they dismiss arguments, implicit in the dismissal, is their sense that they, if not others, would have considered X more seriously if it had a chance of merit. I also find that academic smart people are often the last people to admit that this or that conclusion on their part was reached via intuition. they have this sense of themselves as having reached all positions via logical reasoning.
Which I see is also informally called Proof by repeated assertion, which is a nice shorthand for me. Thanks. I have been surprised to see how many very smart people do this. They don’t respond to points made and paraphrase their earlier posts. Iamb is a king at this. A giveaway is when people quote your whole post and then write a paragraph that is all over the place. a careful look will often find that nothing in that paragraphy actually responds to anything one wrote. Of course w hen they split up points in your post, then can still avoid responding, but I notice a higher liklihood that when they take the trouble to do this, they actually make efforts to respond to points, rather than use your post as inspiration to re-mull on the issue.
It’s true that one is also this, often, regardless. But once they control your actions through their stubborness and potential celebration (note that, their potential celebration) you are more like merely a facet of their lives. You have given over a range of options to one option, you must respond. In fantasies the characters must have a specific role, make that one choice again and again.
- but because dumbasses like me feel a duty to try and enact change in the best way they can regardless of the cost to self shakes my head at myself.