(My Eastern New Mexico News column for August 26, 2020 https://www.easternnewmexiconews.com/story/2020/08/26/voices/opinion-new-information-will-change-minds/166462.html)
Quick, name something you really and truly believe even though you know it's wrong. You can't, can you?
If you knew your belief was wrong, you'd change it.
It's the same for every person on Earth, no matter how different their beliefs are from yours. No matter how certain you are that they are wrong, they are just as certain your different beliefs are wrong. If they believed they were wrong they'd change their minds-- even if they wouldn't admit in public they did so.
No one believes they are wrong or they'd stop believing what they believe and would believe something else they believe is correct.
How confusing is this?
You're not going to change their minds by saying "You're wrong". You're probably not even going to change their beliefs with evidence or information, either.
I'm not claiming evidence and information are useless and can't change people's beliefs. I know from experience they can.
My beliefs have changed since I was young. In every case, I believed I was right until new information made me change my mind. Afterward, I once again believed I was right until the next time something made me change my mind again. I never much regretted changing my mind, but I occasionally wished what I believed before had been right. The old belief was more comfortable or comforting than the new belief. If I could still believe what I believed before I wouldn't have changed my belief.
I'm as sure my interpretation of the world is correct as you are sure yours is correct. I'm as sure yours is wrong where it differs from mine as you are sure of the opposite. How can this stalemate be broken, or should it be?
Although no one is going to automatically change their beliefs when presented with new evidence or information, you shouldn't let that stop you. Put it out there. Let them accept it or not.
People are more likely to accept information which agrees with what they already believe, but sometimes-- even years later-- the new information finally germinates and starts to grow. I've had people write to let me know something I said years ago finally broke through their defenses-- often due to events-- and changed their long-held beliefs. It does happen.
Never give up nor lie about what you believe to make someone comfortable, but don't be too fast to condemn those who believe differently than you do. You may end up on the same side eventually.
I feel like a SHTF event is imminent. Notice I don't say I think it is, rather it's just a feeling. Possibly triggered by the upcoming election.
I don't have a crystal ball. I'm almost definitely wrong.
If you can see it coming, it's not going to happen. That's almost a guarantee.
Just like the Coronapocalypse came at us out of nowhere, triggered by unexpected government overreactions to a fairly normal virus, a more serious event will also be a surprise. Consider the Coronapanic a practice run. It should have shown you the holes in your preps if you were paying attention.
I lucked out with the panicdemic because I was ready. Well, maybe it wasn't completely luck; I've prepped for years "just in case", and it finally paid off. I was pretty sure I wouldn't see it coming when it finally happened, and I didn't. But it didn't matter because I stay ready all the time-- and I have done so since well before the Y2K fizzle. I intend to be just as ready, if not more ready, the next time something ...
Sometimes it's good to just listen to people's stories without interrupting, even when you know the stories are nonsense.
My 2nd wife used to tell of a ghost that lived in her house when she was a kid. It was an interesting story even though I didn't believe it. I learned quickly that her family was very prone to believe anything as long as it fit with their magical worldview.
Other people tell me stories about beneficial things political government can do. These stories are no more true-- in the sense of being objective reality-- than ghost stories, but they can still be informative if you want to know which particular superstitions a person is living under.
Interrupt and you'll never hear the whole tale. Listen and you might be entertained by some fantastical tales of magical realms. Just don't bet your life on them being true.
My nature is such that I simply can't see government as a solution to anything. This puts me at odds with most of the rest of my species.
Yes, I think "social media" has become a horror. This doesn't mean I want government to regulate it; it means I think people who don't like it (or are too dumb to know not to take it at face value) should probably stop using it.
The same is true of so many other things I don't like.
Litter/pollution, scammers, sexual predators, abortion, animal cruelty, Hillary Clinton, poverty, drug abuse, pandemics, crime, and all manner of awful things.
I may hate them, but that doesn't mean I want government to step in. Look how often that has the opposite effect anyway; making the original problem worse-- or at least not solving it-- while also creating a host of new problems that never would have existed otherwise (anti-gun legislation being a perfect example).
And even if government intervention doesn't make this specific problem worse this particular ...
