This is a genuine question, as every time I have an argument about this with someone they bring a point so utterly stupid that it leaves me stumped…
This is a genuine question, as every time I have an argument about this with someone they bring a point so utterly stupid that it leaves me stumped…
I’ve heard it said (by a sociologist) that unwinding conspiratorial thinking requires approaching someone with compassion. Rather than tell them that they are wrong, ask them to explain why they think a particular thing.
Honestly, I don’t have the patience or compassion to try to do this. I gave up trying to talk my mother out of her Fox News beliefs and instituted a “no politics” rule in our relationship in order to save it. Best move that was available for me.
Yeah it’s 90% compassion and 10% argumentation. Seeing things from their perspective, seeing the aspects they like and not immediately placing those aspects into the good and bad buckets, but instead truly appreciating how those aspects work for them. Of course, then you need to figure out how to advance your position over theirs, but that exhaustingly starts in compassion.
Asking questions and not sounding like it’s a gotcha moment seems to be effective in many fields. Heard it being effective regarding smoking as well.