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How to help those in the message: Difference between revisions
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In fact, when you offer someone in the message undeniable proof that the message is false, they will generally believe the message more intensely and fanatically then they did previously. This is a direct result of [[Cognitive Dissonance|cognitive dissonance]]. | In fact, when you offer someone in the message undeniable proof that the message is false, they will generally believe the message more intensely and fanatically then they did previously. This is a direct result of [[Cognitive Dissonance|cognitive dissonance]]. | ||
==You need to speak to the elephant== | |||
The conventional wisdom in psychology, in fact, is that the brain has two independent systems at work at all times. First, there’s what we called the emotional side. It’s the part of you that is instinctive, that feels pain and pleasure. Second, there’s the rational side, also known as the reflective or conscious system. It’s the part of you that deliberates and analyzes and looks into the future.<ref>Heath, Chip; Heath, Dan. Switch (p. 6). Crown. Kindle Edition.</ref> | |||
Jonathan Haidt describes this in his book, The Happiness Hypothesis, as the Elephant (emotional self) and the Rider (rational self). Like a rider on the back of an elephant, the conscious, reasoning part of the mind has only limited control of what the elephant does. Reason and emotion must both work together to create intelligent behavior, but emotion (a major part of the elephant) does most of the work. The elephant includes the gut feelings, visceral reactions, emotions, and intuitions that comprise much of the automatic system. The elephant and the rider each have their own intelligence, and when they work together well they enable the unique brilliance of human beings. But they don’t always work together well.<ref>Haidt, Jonathan. The Happiness Hypothesis (p. 10-34). Basic Books. Kindle Edition.</ref> | |||
If you listen closely to the arguments of message followers, you will understand that that it is really the elephant holding the reins, guiding the rider. It is the elephant who decides what is good or bad, right or wrong. But only the rider can string sentences together and create arguments to give to other people. For message followers defending William Branham, the rider goes beyond being just an advisor to the elephant; he becomes a lawyer, fighting to persuade you of the elephant’s point of view. | |||
The message follower is like the proverbial drunken man looking for his car keys under the street light: | |||
:''“Did you drop them here?” asks the cop. | |||
:''“No” says the man, “I dropped them back there in the alley, but the light is better over here.” | |||
Message followers reasoning to support the message are the tail wagged by the intuitive dog. A dog’s tail wags to communicate. You can’t make a dog happy by forcibly wagging its tail. And you can’t change the minds of message followers by utterly refuting their arguments (which we know is easy to do). | |||
If you want to change their minds, you’ve got to talk to their elephants. You have to convey respect, warmth, and an openness to dialogue before stating the case against the message. | |||
Our righteous minds readily shift into combat mode. Our own rider and the elephant work together smoothly to lob rhetorical grenades and fend off attacks. The performance may impress our friends and show allies that we are committed members of the anti-message team, but no matter how good our logic, it’s not going to change the minds of message followers if they are in combat mode too. | |||
Therefore, if you want to change a message follower’s mind about William Branham, talk to their elephant first. If you ask people to believe something that violates their intuitions, they will devote their efforts to finding an escape hatch — a reason to doubt your argument or conclusion. They will almost always succeed.<ref>Haidt, Jonathan. The Righteous Mind (p. 56-59). Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. | |||
=Your friends and family in the message are afraid= | =Your friends and family in the message are afraid= | ||