Don’t confuse them with facts

To listen to talk radio, to watch TV pundits, to read a newspaper’s online message board, is to realize that increasingly, we are a people estranged from critical thinking, divorced from logic, alienated from even objective truth. We admit no ideas that do not confirm us, hear no voices that do not echo us, sift out all information that does not validate what we wish to believe.

That is pretty amusing, though I doubt this is a new trend; humanity has suffered long bouts of ignorance (Medieval times, for example). I suppose it really comes down to recognizing it in others and becoming aware of it.

In addition, certain things will not be disputed with certain people, regardless of the facts – they are just not open to your “facts.” They never will be, and even if you prove them wrong in an argument, it is unlikely that you’ll change their mind. It’s more likely that you’ll force them to create a new argument full of logical fallacies and emotional hangups. Just look at what PZ Myers puts up with on a daily basis.

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