Can We Change the Mind of The Left? By James Reed
I was forwarded this link to a popular Psychology Today article dealing with strategies for changing a person's mind. The basic idea is to not outrightly disagree with your opponent, but to provisionally accept their position they are taking, then to take the most extreme form of it, and show that it leads to absurdity. Thus, if an absurd conclusion follows, the position must be wrong. The person would thus reject their position. We suppose.
That form of argument has been used as long as rational argument has existed. Yet, the counter is to accept the extreme conclusion. A case in point is the Left, who never back down, and have constantly become more extreme over the years. It is doubtful that any conclusion would be rejected by them. Thus, in the abortion debate, it went from back in the 1970s, abortion is needed for women's rights and freedoms, such as with rape victims. Now it is abortion right up until birth, if not infanticide. There is in the end no real argument with the Left, they just need to be defeated politically.
"The proverbial visitor from Mars—especially one who was here for a return visit—might be pardoned for wondering how societies across the globe have become so polarized. My Facebook feed has become a wasteland of worry on one side or the other, and what's difficult is that the sides aren't even looking at, or celebrating, or obsessing about the same things. They're occupying two different, parallel universes, and they don't even overlap much, let alone talk to one another.
Of course, that's worrisome on many levels, but the particular issue I found myself worrying about recently was whether or not you could argue productively with the other side. I mean, would the facts of the matter make any difference? Given that these parallel worldviews seem to be held with passionate conviction on both sides, is there any possibility of changing people's minds with some sort of argument?
And, if so, what would it look like?
Fortunately, neuroscience has come to the rescue. Research show that it is possible to persuade people, even those holding very deeply to their views, to reconsider those tenets—if you go about it in a highly counterintuitive way.
This holds an interesting insight for speakers of all stripes who are trying to bridge the current divide or simply talk to people who think differently from them on any subject at all.
The secret is not to argue, but to agree.
But agree in a very specific way.
Take the most extreme version of the view that your audience holds (and from which you wish to dislodge them) and embrace that. Then tell them that you agree with them, the audience, because they believe this version of the argument.
Don't mess around with trying to find a middle ground, in short. Double down. Embrace your inner extremist.
But begin by telling them you agree with them.
This is the rhetorical equivalent of Nixon going to China. Back in those days, a more liberal president couldn't have managed it, but Nixon could because he was seen to be strong on the subject of world communism. He wasn't going over to the enemy; he was taking it to the enemy.
Much different.
If you want to argue the rights and wrongs of this infinitely depressing moment in world history, agree with your enemies—or at least the audience in front of you. Embrace the extreme. Then, try to walk the argument back from the abyss.
This rhetorical approach is similar to an ancient Greek method of argument: reductio ad absurdum, where you appear to embrace an argument and then take it to its extreme. Expel all the undesirable foreigners from our country? Why stop there? Let's start subjecting people to purity tests. Unless you've been in this country for, oh, eight generations, then you should be sent back to wherever it is your ancestors came from.
If you can get your audience to see the extreme nature of their views, by holding them up to (very gentle) ridicule, rather than criticism, that is the first step toward getting them to change those views. The problem with our cultural divide today is that it has normalized the extremes and led people to believe that the beliefs they hold are not extreme. Embracing the craziness rather than ranting against it may be a first step in the right direction."
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