How Do We Fix It?

It's So Hard To Change Our Minds: Eleanor Gordon-Smith

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Episode notes

Most people reject facts that cause them discomfort or don't line up with their view of the world. All too often emotion, not reason, informs our beliefs. Despite social media claims that #factsmatter, it's surprisingly difficult to use rational arguments to change minds. "It's surprising how much we still put faith in rational argument," says our guest, Australian writer and philosopher, Eleanor Gordon-Smith. In this summer re-run episode from November, 2019, we take a fun, fascinating journey to the limits of human reason. Eleanor's book "Stop Being Reasonable. How We Really Change Our Minds," includes personal stories of successful persuasion that illustrate what most of us get wrong about rationality she says. Her latest book is, Illogical Stories: how to change minds in an unreasonable world. "Hearing the story of how somebody changes their mind is hearing the story of how they change their life," Eleanor tells us. "Why, when we know that changing our minds is as tangled and difficult and messy as we are, do we stay so wedded to the thought that rational debate is the way to go about it?" The book and our podcast begin with Eleanor interviewing men who catcalled her in the street and made obscene gestures. Did she convince these guys to change their behavior? Find out what happened...  

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