Eliezer Yudkowskys excellent essay on the mind-killer nature of politics unfortunately leaves one important -- and very practical -- question open: How to reason with people that have already gone into partisan mode, having (seemingly permanently) lowered their critical barrier to information and arguments supporting their side? Of course, an easy answer is dont, but in some cases they can significantly contribute to escalation of conflicts, unless reasoned out of doing so. Particularly, their minds are wide open to manipulation urging them to provide material support in conflicts (including armed ones) or even to enlist. Simply respectfully pointing out the inconsistencies in the information in question is still likely to land me in the mental box labeled enemies, which results in an unwillingness to listen to anything I say. One unfortunate side-effect of getting ones hands bloodied (to varying extent) is that it burns some bridges and also acts as a sunk cost preventing withdrawal from a conflict. Hence the standard maffia tactic of pushing recruits to commit increasingly grave crimes. Are there any known counter-measures?
Posted on: Sun, 16 Nov 2014 17:39:21 +0000
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