Quote:
Originally Posted by Locke
You cannot be 'reasoned' out of an opinion you did not 'reason' yourself into.
I think you're assuming that all opinions can have light shed upon them and be debunked and the people that hold those opinions and beliefs can come to see that light, the error of their ways and change.
Some times noise just needs to be turned off when its clearly just noise.
And you are absolutely correct, that noise will find itself dark corners and echo-chambers where it will fester and self-reinforce. But some people, regardless of challenge or evidence or reason simply do not want to, and will not change.
Really the only options are that those voices, and we're talking the real hardcore extremists here, have to be brushed aside and ignored...or silenced.
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Yes, I believe people can be reasoned out of extremist beliefs. Certainly not everyone, and definitely not the hardcore believers, but average people who may simply be curious or are just "dipping their toe" into extremism can very easily have their minds changed by a proper debunking or public mocking. A lot of the time the public debate and argument is not for changing the mind of the extremist, but for the lurkers watching from the sidelines.
Extremists wither in the light. They grow in the dark.