The sky is green.
No, really. You may think the sky is blue, there may be so much experimental data showing that the sky is blue that the scientific community accepts it as near fact, 99.7% of people may testify that the sky is blue, but that makes no difference, because I say the sky is green, and nothing is more important than MY! OPINION!, and MY! OPINION! is unchangeable.
People like that infuriate me. Obviously, I have no issue with people who hold strong opinions, I hold pretty strong opinions myself. The issue I have is with those people who are so invested in their opinions that fact and logic cease to matter. These are the people who, when confronted with information that contradicts a previously held belief, refuse to amend their belief system but instead discard the information, like someone driving 100 mph toward a cliff, staunchly believing that the road continues on.
I enjoy a good debate, and I am reasonably good at it. Unfortunately, lately I have encountered more people like this than those interested in an actual conversation about an issue. I encounter this thinking all over, like the women who insist that all fat people are only fat because they are lazy and eat twinkies all day, who dismiss evidence to the contrary out of hand, or the Huckabee fan who insists that Obama is Muslim and all Muslims are terrorists, actual biography and statistics be damned. Attempting to debate with such a person is like trying to punch Jello. With glass shards.
My conclusion: I have to learn to let people live with their own ignorance. I expect others to respect my right to choose to watch Buffy the Vampire slayer or eat chocolate, so I need to respect their right to choose to remain uninformed and closed-minded. It’s a good thing I teach, so I can have some relief of that urge to impart information, and to a captive audience, at that.
Muahahahahaha.
I’m dealing with a person like that right now on a forum I’m a part of. Despite all the good info I’ve posted up and my body positive message this person insists on being an ass and saying ‘fat people can change if they want too!’ and all the usual ‘fat people are fat because they eat too much and dont’ excersise, genetics be damned!’ It’s frustrating.
Wait a minute – you mean you can’t punch jello with glass shards? That defies my logic.
Erin, I would shudder to debate with you on most things because your intellect would kick my intellect’s ass. But that’s why I love you, and would love to see you debate some ignorant people – now THAT’S entertainment
A lot of people seem to be under the impression that Barack Obama is a Muslim, despite his many protests to the contrary. I wish he would say that it shouldn’t matter and that even if he were a Muslim, he would still be a great candidate for the presidency. Alas, you can’t reason with some people.
The fact that you watch (and enjoy) Buffy proves that you are infinitely superior to anyone who would disagree with you, therefore making their opinion of no consequence whatsoever.