Throwing my experiences into the pool of anecdotes: I’ve become more tolerant of people with crazy beliefs since being involved with LW. Recognizing how off-base nearly all of our beliefs are made me more sympathetic. Just because many of my crazy beliefs fell in the genre of ‘science’ rather than ‘spirituality’ or ‘the paranormal’ doesn’t mean the thought processes weren’t similar.
No, previously I would write them off and disengage. How could I learn something from this person with an obviously crazy belief? It’s also not worth arguing with them, because they wouldn’t get it anyways. Now, I’m more likely to figure out the causes of their beliefs and where they are coming from if it comes up (keeping it non-adversarial). While I can identify those particular beliefs as crazy, they probably have about the same number of crazy beliefs as others, and so I shouldn’t avoid interacting with them.
Throwing my experiences into the pool of anecdotes: I’ve become more tolerant of people with crazy beliefs since being involved with LW. Recognizing how off-base nearly all of our beliefs are made me more sympathetic. Just because many of my crazy beliefs fell in the genre of ‘science’ rather than ‘spirituality’ or ‘the paranormal’ doesn’t mean the thought processes weren’t similar.
So, you basically treat them like one would their mentally infirm relative at a family gathering: avoid arguing and feel sympathetic, but distant?
No, previously I would write them off and disengage. How could I learn something from this person with an obviously crazy belief? It’s also not worth arguing with them, because they wouldn’t get it anyways. Now, I’m more likely to figure out the causes of their beliefs and where they are coming from if it comes up (keeping it non-adversarial). While I can identify those particular beliefs as crazy, they probably have about the same number of crazy beliefs as others, and so I shouldn’t avoid interacting with them.