I think that part of this discussion may be "tribalism" that we frequently talked about:
1. When dis-confirmation of a statement or information occurs against a tribal stance, this dis-confirmation is treated as an attack on the tribe. 2. Who stated the dis-confirmation is important. If a follow tribal member makes a statement inconsistent with the tribal stance, other tribal members will determine if that tribe member is a trader to the tribal stance or just a tribal member who is honestly correcting the tribal stance. The reaction of the tribe to the dissenter is very important in this evaluation, that is, an allegiance to tribal authority is important so the reaction of the leader of the tribe hold weight on the tribe members' decision. 3. People outside the tribe are not to be trust and are the enemies. If these outsiders make a stance against a tribal stance, their statement should be attacked until the tribe (and especially its leaders) shifts their stance. 4. Often the conversations are not based on the soundness of the argument or using the events as the criteria for a good stance but rather the conformity of the stance with the tribal stance hold a lot of weight. That is just my impression from arguing with Christians in the South over the past few years. Strategies...just some ideas: 1. Get them to identify with other tribes. 2. Get them to identify with you. 3. Once the emotional tribal identification is weakened, expose them to other ways of looking at the same questions or analysis of the information. 4. Repeat the same dis-confirming message in different ways. 5. Teach them different ways of evaluating the information (critical thinking). 6. Meet with the tribal members that promote that information to understand and respond to their stance. 7. Talk to the tribal leaders. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Memphis Freethought Alliance" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/memphisfreethoughtalliance?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
