This article won’t change your mind. Here’s why | Sarah Stein Lubrano
www.theguardian.com
Evidence shows that arguing our case rarely convinces others. It’s social relationships and actions that have that power, says author Sarah Stein Lubrano

cross-posted from: https://beehaw.org/post/20071879

OK, so that is in the running for clickbait hed of the year, but it’s actually apt for the column.

It may seem paradoxical to write this in an opinion piece. But it needs saying: arguments alone have no meaningful effect on people’s beliefs. And the implicit societal acceptance that they do is getting in the way of other, more effective forms of political thinking and doing.

I’m a researcher who studies the intersection of psychology and politics, and my work has increasingly led me to believe that our culture’s understanding of how political persuasion works is wrong. In the age of Donald Trump, Elon Musk and the rise of the far right, commentators have endlessly opined on the problems of fake news, polarisation and more. But they’ve mostly been looking in the wrong places – and have focused too much on words.

Take “debates”. They’re a central part of most election campaigns around the world, seen as so influential that they’re often governed by strict rules around media coverage and balance. Yet evidence suggests that watching debates has no impact on opinions whatsoever. In 2019 researchers analysed 56 TV debates in 22 elections in the US, Canada, New Zealand and Europe from 1952 to 2016. The study tracked nearly 100,000 respondents to see whether debates helped undecided or decided voters to make up or change their minds. They found no evidence that they did. In 2012, a reporter ran another analysis about whether debates influenced election outcomes. As he put it: “The effects of debates on eventual votes are likely mild, and, in most cases, effectively nil.”

    • Jayjader@jlai.lu
      1·
      2 days ago

      I’m not participating in any agenda

      If my agenda is for you to not participate in the vote, then by abstaining you end up participating in my agenda whether you want to or not. If I can disappoint you to the point of not bothering the next time, then that’s 1 less person affecting the outcome of the vote, making it incrementally easier to forecast and manipulate the results.

      I’m basically anti-political now, it’s [conservatives’ and progressives’] world, not mine.

      Others have said it better than I, but I worry this just plays into the hands of authoritarians who rely on apathy such as this to seize more power. I implore you to find your own terms on which you can engage with politics, but do (re) engage with them.

      Just because some of us stop paying attention to “politics” doesn’t mean politicians lose any power - it generally goes the other way.

        • Jayjader@jlai.lu
          1·
          2 days ago

          I don’t see the point of saving one days’ effort and earnings to let trump into office and now have to pay more on so many goods and services because of his actions and policies.

          the rich elitist hypocrite may not make it into office without your support, but they’ll survive fine without it. Your own quality of life will actively worsen if you just stop voting, so I hope you’ve found ways to offset that (like a more local community and/or support network).