“A man convinced against his will Is of the same opinion still.”
I think you need a longer time span to see this is quite often false.
No, it is quite often true, though obviously not an absolute. I’ve seen people concede to an argument, only to entirely forget about it and start from scratch from their original position. I know that they weren’t just pretending because I have done this myself—and if it weren’t for the internet and some dude pointing back to my history, I’d have never known about it. A deeply held belief is well-entrenched in memory, whereas a change of mind and the rationale for the change can be easily forgotten.
I’ve also done like you said, and incorporated other people’s arguments against me as my own, after I’ve changed my mind. After all, a valid argument is valid no matter who made it, and I know I am very prone to source amnesia.
My experience arguing with other people is that you cannot change a person’s deeply held beliefs (you can be one of many contributors to an eventual change, but there’s no way you alone can do it). If you want any chance of success changing someone’s mind, correct them on easily verifiable facts, not on complex topics.
It can be both quite often true and quite often false. Thank you especially for “source amnesia”, it’s perhaps the most important part of the phenomenom, though doesn’t fully explain it.
My experience arguing with other people is that you cannot change a person’s deeply held beliefs
My experience is it depends on the person, and how much their environment reinforces those beliefs.
If you want any chance of success changing someone’s mind, correct them on easily verifiable facts, not on complex topics.
While this is good advice, I think people incorporate much more from an argument than they explicitly accept or recall. It takes time for good arguments to sink in, and that can happen even if you don’t consciously think about them.
No, it is quite often true, though obviously not an absolute. I’ve seen people concede to an argument, only to entirely forget about it and start from scratch from their original position. I know that they weren’t just pretending because I have done this myself—and if it weren’t for the internet and some dude pointing back to my history, I’d have never known about it. A deeply held belief is well-entrenched in memory, whereas a change of mind and the rationale for the change can be easily forgotten.
I’ve also done like you said, and incorporated other people’s arguments against me as my own, after I’ve changed my mind. After all, a valid argument is valid no matter who made it, and I know I am very prone to source amnesia.
My experience arguing with other people is that you cannot change a person’s deeply held beliefs (you can be one of many contributors to an eventual change, but there’s no way you alone can do it). If you want any chance of success changing someone’s mind, correct them on easily verifiable facts, not on complex topics.
It can be both quite often true and quite often false. Thank you especially for “source amnesia”, it’s perhaps the most important part of the phenomenom, though doesn’t fully explain it.
My experience is it depends on the person, and how much their environment reinforces those beliefs.
While this is good advice, I think people incorporate much more from an argument than they explicitly accept or recall. It takes time for good arguments to sink in, and that can happen even if you don’t consciously think about them.