Quote of the Day

[dakegra]

You can't convince a believer of anything; for their belief is not based on evidence, it's based on a deep seated need to believe.
~ Carl Sagan


discuss.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

True, within limits. The bit about it being based on a need to believe is entirely true in my experience, but to suggest that this belief cannot be refocussed is less of a given. There is in fact a very old observation that converts are often the most vehement supporters of any movement and it's certainly far easier to find evidence of people who swap one philosophy-in-a-box for another than it is to find individuals who have actually changed the way they think.

Richard Dawkins' website has a whole section devoted to communications from people telling how they switched from a creationist to an evolutionist standpoint because they read one book. Not that they read that book, followed the references in it, read some more, compared the available evidence and evaluated it properly before they came to their conclusion, but that they read one book and pointed their belief in a new direction. Dawkins increasingly seems to believe that all that matters is that the idiots pick the right guru to follow; I'd rather we tried to elevate them above idiocy.