This is not well formed yet, but it is interesting. I am going to work on it a bit and come back to it. All ideas on this very welcome. This is "under construction" - another favorite from Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. That and "42".
We Are Not Rational
If you look at the current political climate, this is pretty obvious. People are not making rational decisions. They are voting against their own best interests. And it is not just "fake news" and Russian Facebook bots. Something else is at work. We generally do not make rational decisions. You can find a nice summary of that research here, and you can look at these books which I have reviewed previously: Thinking Fast and Slow, Righteous Minds,
Emotions Dominate
Research indicates that we are about 97% driven by our values, our emotions, our feelings. We also seem to have a genetic propensity to be either conservative or progressive. It can be moved around a bit, but it comes with the genetics. In either case, ideas are secondary at best. They are useful, but they do not drive action very much.
Group Membership Dominates
As Haidt points out, we are totally tribal. Our membership in our group gives us great comfort and support, and we find it very difficult to differ from the standard cultural norm. Some of our cultural norms are shared with the larger nation or group, but very many are much closer to home - family and friends.
BackFire is not what we thought
This blog entry covers this misconception pretty well.
https://carlscheider.blogspot.com/2018/02/it-is-not-about-facts-its-all-shared.html
The bottom line is that facts are resisted if they are counter to your beliefs or cultural values - but they are not denied. People will search for a critique of the fact, they will resist, but then they may accept it. It does not make their commitment any stronger - that is the error. But generally, they will either ignore it, or find another supporting fact for their value or belief.
One good example is the vaccination research issue. People who are resistive to having their children vaccinated because of the fear of autism, can be persuaded rationally that there is no real risk. When presented with clear facts, the actual studies, they will change their mind. BUT . . . they do NOT change their actions. Even though their rational brain now recognizes that the facts do not seem to support their belief, they continue to follow the moral guidance of their belief!
Another project was conducted by the BBC called 911 Conspiracy Road Trip. The BBC took a group of 911 conspiracy adherents on a trip to introduce them to all kinds of participants in the disaster. You can see the whole show here: https://youtu.be/Tga4hXy8qws
After extensive information from experts at every level of the disaster, only one of the participants changed his mind. He happened to have a solid support infrastructure that did not reject him when he changed his view - a girl friend and small child. He was, however, vilified by the cult, even to the extent that peole sent child pornography pictures to his mother with his child's face on them.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/10079244/The-911-conspiracy-theorist-who-changed-his-mind.html
We are driven by our social value milieu, our gut, our beliefs, our group - not by ideas. We look for ideas and facts to support our values and beliefs, not the other way around. To really change a belief or value, a lot more than information is needed.
Change Is Possible
The Podcast above mentions two successful change of view experiments that affected people's moral values, AND their actions. In one of them, a group of adherents to the
The second one research. This research was studied at length, but one of the studies used totally fictitious data, so it tended to discredit the original work. Subsequent studies have been more rigorous in their facts, and they have confirmed the results.
This study had to do with the constitutional change in California that legalized gay marriage.
So, change is possible on a one to one conversation, with an open and receptive adult, who is engaged by a mature, unthreatening, capable adult. Whew - how does one replicate that?
Social Empathy Works
This little tale precipitated all of this, so you might want to listen / watch it a bit.
WWII England Social Empathy
England is at war - resources are scarce - and yet they quickly pass a social welfare benefit for their children, because so many people were so intimately exposed to the dire straits of intercity children that they HAD to respond. I love the story, but . . .
Now What?
How in the world does one replicate that?
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