What makes you think you have come up with a better plan in 5 minutes of thinking than all of the people who are already dedicated to such goals?
Presumably, I’d have the Truth on my side, as well as the Will of the American People, as soon as I’d convinced them. And in this counterfactual I still believe that most 9/11 Truthers are lunatics, or not very smart, so their failure to be taken seriously isn’t very discouraging.
Changing people’s beliefs is indeed hard, and so is getting people to do things; but it’s not impossible. The successful civil rights movements provide historical examples. Examples of problems we still face include stopping genocide, protecting human rights, preventing catastrophic climate change, and mitigating existential risks. Some of these problems are already hard enough without the necessity of having to convince lots of obstinate people that their beliefs are incorrect or that they need to take action. But it seems to me the payoffs are worth enough to do something about them.
You don’t have to agree. Maybe if you came to believe the 9/11 Truthers, you wouldn’t do anything differently. In that case, you have no motive to even have a belief on the matter. But if I learned about a crazy-huge problem that no one is doing anything about, I’d ask “What can we do to solve this problem?”
But if I learned about a crazy-huge problem that no one is doing anything about, I’d ask “What can we do to solve this problem?”
Perhaps the difference in attitude is our prior beliefs regarding governments and politicians. If I learned that 9/11 was a conspiracy I wouldn’t be shocked to discover that government / politicians are morally worse than I thought, I would be shocked to discover that they were more competent and more omnipotent than I thought. It sounds like you would interpret things differently.
I would be shocked to discover that they were more competent and more omnipotent than I thought.
Ah, we’re in agreement on this point. We are perhaps fortunate that our political leaders can’t help but make fools of themselves, individually and collectively, on a regular basis. A political entity that could actually fool everyone all of the time would be way too scary.
Presumably, I’d have the Truth on my side, as well as the Will of the American People, as soon as I’d convinced them. And in this counterfactual I still believe that most 9/11 Truthers are lunatics, or not very smart, so their failure to be taken seriously isn’t very discouraging.
Changing people’s beliefs is indeed hard, and so is getting people to do things; but it’s not impossible. The successful civil rights movements provide historical examples. Examples of problems we still face include stopping genocide, protecting human rights, preventing catastrophic climate change, and mitigating existential risks. Some of these problems are already hard enough without the necessity of having to convince lots of obstinate people that their beliefs are incorrect or that they need to take action. But it seems to me the payoffs are worth enough to do something about them.
You don’t have to agree. Maybe if you came to believe the 9/11 Truthers, you wouldn’t do anything differently. In that case, you have no motive to even have a belief on the matter. But if I learned about a crazy-huge problem that no one is doing anything about, I’d ask “What can we do to solve this problem?”
Perhaps the difference in attitude is our prior beliefs regarding governments and politicians. If I learned that 9/11 was a conspiracy I wouldn’t be shocked to discover that government / politicians are morally worse than I thought, I would be shocked to discover that they were more competent and more omnipotent than I thought. It sounds like you would interpret things differently.
Ah, we’re in agreement on this point. We are perhaps fortunate that our political leaders can’t help but make fools of themselves, individually and collectively, on a regular basis. A political entity that could actually fool everyone all of the time would be way too scary.