This article won’t change your mind. Here’s why | Sarah Stein Lubrano
Evidence shows that arguing our case rarely convinces others. It’s social relationships and actions that have that power
- Sarah Stein Lubrano is the author of Don’t Talk About Politics: How to Change 21st-Century Minds
It may seem paradoxical to write this in an opinion piece. But it needs saying: arguments alone have no meaningful effect on people’s beliefs. And the implicit societal acceptance that they do is getting in the way of other, more effective forms of political thinking and doing.
I’m a researcher who studies the intersection of psychology and politics, and my work has increasingly led me to believe that our culture’s understanding of how political persuasion works is wrong. In the age of Donald Trump, Elon Musk and the rise of the far right, commentators have endlessly opined on the problems of fake news, polarisation and more. But they’ve mostly been looking in the wrong places – and have focused too much on words.
Sarah Stein Lubrano is the author of Don’t Talk About Politics: How to Change 21st-Century Minds