Mike Lorrey writes
> There is no doubt that people [on both sides] generally leap to opinions
> based on desires first, only later to be tempered, changed or confirmed
> by reasoned argument, especially when people have made rather large
> emotional investments in a given position over a protracted period like
> an election cycle.
>
> What is important to look at is what measures one is willing to consider
> to confirm their own emotionally vested opinion.
[partisan remarks elided and reposted to the thread "GOP standards
were higher than DEM standards]
> This behavior demonstrates who is truly extreme and who is not...
> So the question is: how far are you willing to go to support your
> beliefs before you reconsider them? How much contradictory fact are you
> willing to ignore before you start to doubt the validity of your
> beliefs? These questions indicate the reasonableness or extremism of a
> person.
Yes, but it's enormously difficult to objectively determine "how
much contradictory fact you are willing to ignore". It's almost
impossible, and there are extremely few occasions where I think
that I've succeeded (personally). My best moments occur when I've
located some obscure contradictory memes on a subject, and can let
them fight it out. Or after I'm able to (truthfully) decide that
I don't have enough information, and go looking for some. You've
probably read Robin's suggestions in this thread; I will criticize
them shortly.
Lee
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