15 Jun
2011
15 Jun
'11
10:59 a.m.
On 6/15/2011 12:33 PM, Dave McGuire wrote:
He was a very nice guy, but apparently he's the
neighborhood bible
thumper (ugh) and conspiracy theorist (ugh again).
<snip>
But, as he was very friendly, I listened to what he
had to say as his point of view was so very bizarre.
I have a habit of entertaining "crazy" people longer than most people
have the patience for. I try to have an open mind, and I think there's
not much harm in listening to other people's viewpoints, even if the
average joe might dismiss them (much sooner than I) as crazy.
I often try to do a couple things:
1> try to understand how they came to believe this type of thing
2> to fully understand what their beliefs are
3> get them to tell me the most extreme thing about their subject that
they fully believe in.
Most of the time I spend time trying to understand why an otherwise
intelligent person could come to such unsupported conclusions about some
things. It's as if their logical thinking breaks down, and is no longer
around when faith steps into the room. Mind you, I'm not necessarily
linking religion with faith, but rather faith in the context of "belief
w/o adequate scientific proof"
Keith