A few days ago one of my favorite commenters, Justin Wolfers, remarked: “We’re going to educate our way out of this crisis.” As a professor of economics, Wolfers understands his public duty as teaching how the economy works so that voters can better evaluate the decisions made by officials.
This really nails something that alot of progressives miss about persuasion. The distinction between being misinformed versus delusional is crucial - facts dont change beliefs that serve an emotional or identity function. I dunno, the self-reflectoin approach feels more promising than endless fact-checking, but it also requires the kind of patience and relationship-building that's hard to scale beyond personal converstations. The example about business disruption versus social change is perfect because it shows the inconsistancy without making someone feel attacked for their core identity.
Thank you for your kind words. I think there's a way Democrats can encourage reflection in Republican voters on a large scale. I'll explore that in a later post.
This really nails something that alot of progressives miss about persuasion. The distinction between being misinformed versus delusional is crucial - facts dont change beliefs that serve an emotional or identity function. I dunno, the self-reflectoin approach feels more promising than endless fact-checking, but it also requires the kind of patience and relationship-building that's hard to scale beyond personal converstations. The example about business disruption versus social change is perfect because it shows the inconsistancy without making someone feel attacked for their core identity.
Thank you for your kind words. I think there's a way Democrats can encourage reflection in Republican voters on a large scale. I'll explore that in a later post.