Ask your friends or family how they deal with those who reject inspiration and the gifts of the spirit!!

Oh, the infamy!

Social distancing works wonders in this situation as well.

Familial distancing is even better. Cuz, uh, my eyes are hemorrhaging from the eye rolls and my forehead is bloody from the brick wall. And uh, life is short.


Someone grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, cuz, uh, God ain't doing that.

You cannot deal rationally with an irrational person. If the person that you are dealing with rejects facts out of hand then the only option is to disassociate with that person.
The old saying a person convinced against their will is of the same opinion still is still valid!

Good to keep in mind the Twain quote:

"Never argue with stupid people they will drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience."


You cannot win with people who deny facts and evidence. No matter what you say they wills smugly claim victory.

Done & Done Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> You cannot win with people who deny facts and
> evidence. No matter what you say they wills
> smugly claim victory.


Yep!

If you think introducing Mormons to facts and reality is a good idea, try telling your wife she should lose weight.

Exactly.

"Does this religion make me look stupid, dear?"

Alternatively, "Hi Mom, Hi Dad!"

Send them to northern Minnesota in late January. Anyone who denies reality then ends up cold and dead.

> Anyone who denies reality then ends up cold and
> dead. . .

. . . or becomes a math professor, which is even worse.

I don't try to change their minds or opinions. I'm not the

thought police. In the end, everyone will have to face the

facts about their thoughts and actions.

Its not my job to police anyone.

Agreed.

It's easier to find other things to discuss.

There are a lot of cases where these differences must be discussed.

Probably better leaving it to licensed therapists and lawyers in extreme cases....

I used to work with a lady that lost all touch with reality.

She thought:

Marshall law would be declared any day.

Our dollars would become worthless over night and be replaced by new plastic dollars secretly being printed on a Navajo reservation.

That all former presidents would be rounded up and tried for treason in Guantanamo.

That there are actually two suns. (No it could not possibly be a reflection of the sun on a body of water in the picture.)

The planet Nemo would knock the earth out of its orbit.

That worthless foreign currency could be redeemed for millions of dollars.

That there were two US constitutions.

Oh and that nobody liked her and thought she was crazy.

At first I tried to explain things to her. Used examples of my own experience etc. But she kept watching YouTube.

Finally I gave up.

/s So the Vatican owns the USA? Gasp! Shock! Horror!

https://worldpeaceassociation.com/2015/01/20/vatican-took-over-the-u-s-with-congress-created-repealable-constitution-of-1871/

And most people already carry around plastic money in their wallets. But that's old school. Now there are just pictures on phones that you can scan. But soon that'll be replaced with RFID chips under your skin. Then they'll wire the chips up to your brain and start sending you messages via the Internet so you'll never know that Justin Bieber is really a girl or Obama is an alien lizard from outer space... /s



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/11/2020 09:32AM by anybody.

Sorry I wasn't clear. By plastic money I meant notes or bills made from a flexible plastic that some countries have started to use. I believe Australia uses a polymer note.

Trying to have a rational discussion with folks who reject facts is like trying to play chess with a two year old; they don't accept the rules, claim they always win, and you end up with a stress headache and a huge mess. My solution is to keep contact with them to a minimum. I'm not the Dickweed Whisperer.

I LOVE THIS!!! Have to steal it!

I generally ignore them. Wastes too many brain cells to argue with them.

In the Information Age,

https://www.npr.org/local/309/2020/05/04/849109486/study-finds-more-c-o-v-i-d-19-cases-among-viewers-of-fox-news-host-who-downplayed-pandemic

willful ignorance bears its own consequence.

Go no contact if you can and try to move on completely. I had to. Its easier said than done though. Despite my family being messed up in every way and being dysfunctional and treating me poorly it was all i really knew. Breaking this trauma bond thing especially with my father is insanely difficult. I just bought a book to help me understand breaking free from a trauma bond you have with a narcissist parent. Definitely not easy even after no contact.

Understanding the other sometimes helps.

Some thoughts:

Einstein once stated "I think the most important question facing humanity is, ‘Is the universe a friendly place?’"

How this is answered determines the role of data (be these statistical, physical, conceptual) in our lives.

- If the universe threatening we build walls to keep ourselves safe.
- If the universe is friendly there is no need for walls, so we are open.

Liberalism and conservatism are actually not political positions, they're methods of thought: how we arrive at a life position (there are liberal right-wingers and conservative leftists). Each has inherent strengths and vulnerabilities.

Liberalism, from Latin liberalis (or liber excogitatoris) roughly translates " free thinker." These take in ample data, which is processed to try and find out how things actually work, so the more data the better. These are those open without walls. Change is no threat in a safe universe.

Conservatism, from Latin conservare, translates to keep, to guard. These organize life based on fixed authoritative beliefs and rules (e.g. Bible), the maintenance of which is very tenuous as a perpetually changing universe is always intruding. So for these data and other ideas are destabilizing threats and not at all welcome: walls are built. Change is unwelcome.

Interesting summary of many studies (and there's more)
https://www.businessinsider.com/psychological-differences-between-conservatives-and-liberals-2018-2

So according to this idea, those shutting out "facts" are simply fearful and trying desperately to maintain a "safe bubble" in a hostile threatening changing universe. To approach these with information is to threaten them. That's why you get the fierce reaction you do.

These live in a very different universe.

> Einstein once stated
> "I think the most
> important question
> facing humanity is,
> ‘Is the universe a
> friendly place?’"


"Extinction is the rule. Survival is the exception"
      --Carl Sagan