Comment by 0xbadcafebee
3 days ago
"Belief" doesn't actually mean "to believe", as in "I think A is true and B is false". "Belief" is the faith, trust, or alignment with in an idea planted in one's head. It has nothing to do with factual or true information. You can simultaneously know something is untrue, and have belief in it.
You can't change minds because "the mind" (in this context) is the personal identity and ego of an individual, of which their "tribe" is a huge part. Any information that conflicts with the narrative of their identity or tribe will be rejected, because it threatens their identity or tribe. To question one's identity causes a crisis which most people are not capable of dealing with. The more you attack those things, the stronger they will defend them.
The "culture war" is literally just that: one culture attacking another culture on its fundamental nature. This is like Christians vs Muslims. The only way to "win" that war is complete destruction. If you want the war to end without that, you're gonna have to stop fighting and come to some kind of truce.
> You can't change minds because "the mind" (in this context) is the personal identity and ego of an individual, of which their "tribe" is a huge part. Any information that conflicts with the narrative of their identity or tribe will be rejected, because it threatens their identity or tribe. To question one's identity causes a crisis which most people are not capable of dealing with. The more you attack those things, the stronger they will defend them.
This sounds like the friend-enemy distinction by Carl Schmitt.
I feel like what we're seeing now is that the uneasy truce which used to exist is breaking down. Each side is more or less openly calling for the destruction of the other, and not seeing each other as human beings.
I lived through the fall of communism, so I've seen the "win" happening without any destruction.
Just the arguments had to be a lot stronger than some pixels on shiny screens.