I remember becoming a libertarian and reading a lot of libertarian writing. I found one argument in an article I read that was especially persuasive. I sent the article to a relation, who is not a libertarian.
He wrote back and had picked apart the article I'd sent. I saw immediately that my relative's arguments were correct, and that the…
I remember becoming a libertarian and reading a lot of libertarian writing. I found one argument in an article I read that was especially persuasive. I sent the article to a relation, who is not a libertarian.
He wrote back and had picked apart the article I'd sent. I saw immediately that my relative's arguments were correct, and that the article I had originally found so persuasive was anything but.
I immediately realized the implication - when we read things that are ideologically consonant with our own views, it's hard to see defects in argument. When we're predisposed to disagree with something however, we're much more attuned to the logical failings of the things we read.
I think that may have been true for Altemeyer. I am a libertarian, not a conservative, and he doesn't claim that libertarians are authoritarian, so my reaction was mainly to what seemed to me a patently dishonest argument.
I remember becoming a libertarian and reading a lot of libertarian writing. I found one argument in an article I read that was especially persuasive. I sent the article to a relation, who is not a libertarian.
He wrote back and had picked apart the article I'd sent. I saw immediately that my relative's arguments were correct, and that the article I had originally found so persuasive was anything but.
I immediately realized the implication - when we read things that are ideologically consonant with our own views, it's hard to see defects in argument. When we're predisposed to disagree with something however, we're much more attuned to the logical failings of the things we read.
I suspect something similar is at work here.
I think that may have been true for Altemeyer. I am a libertarian, not a conservative, and he doesn't claim that libertarians are authoritarian, so my reaction was mainly to what seemed to me a patently dishonest argument.
Yes, that is what I meant, though I wasn't clear about it.
It's an issue that applies to me too. I discussed it in an old post:
https://daviddfriedman.substack.com/p/why-i-believe-things