tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3697041069822813301.post3726029380148210727..comments2023-04-07T04:36:21.582-05:00Comments on Musing Aloud: Defense Against Irrationality?Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02343632915029739024noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3697041069822813301.post-58113465891247342242010-03-09T12:25:00.587-06:002010-03-09T12:25:00.587-06:00"It is quite possible that Y’s diet works for..."It is quite possible that Y’s diet works for him, although from your description I suspect that he might not know it if it did."<br /><br />Excuse the late reply, but that's one of the things that irritates me the most: Y's diet is *horrible*. He's diabetic, obese (I'm almost a foot taller than he and yet we weigh almost exactly the same), can hardly walk more than a few steps before needing to rest, is losing his teeth, has heart disease, is developing memory problems, and so on. Sadly enough he resorts to the excuse that it's all a natural part of aging or his set-in-stone genes, and cannot be convinced otherwise.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02343632915029739024noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3697041069822813301.post-19453577779476123232010-03-05T22:00:26.155-06:002010-03-05T22:00:26.155-06:00Burgess:
“With diet -- and mine is radically diff...Burgess:<br /><br />“With diet -- and mine is radically different from yours.”<br /><br />This is not surprising and it emphasizes a point I often make when talking with people fanatical about specific diets. If you look closely at the scientific literature closely you find one thing that stands out the most is the substantial variability between people. This is one reason why epidemiological studies have to be so large in order to get significant results. <br /><br />The best solution is individual experimentation - applying the scientific method to your personal diet. You seem to have done this well, ending up with a what looks like a pretty all around healthy diet and solving the problems you listed. If only everyone would take control of their diet and life to that extent.<br /><br />Its amazing how much a simple diet change can do. It emphasizes how great a change you can make to your internal metabolism by changing what is fed into it. <br /><br />Ben:<br /><br />“He's a type of person that's terrified to apply his own judgment to his actions, so instead he depends on the feelings (and sometimes thinking) of other people.”<br /><br />Wow. Sound like some stereotypical character right out of a novel. I don’t usually have to deal with people that irrational. Doesn’t sound like there is really very much you can do. I would second the advice to not evangelize. <br /><br />I don’t think your mind is in any real danger unless of course you see this problem with other people on other subjects. <br /><br />As far as diet is concerned, I think there are several strategies which will work, depending upon the metabolism of the person involved. It is quite possible that Y’s diet works for him, although from your description I suspect that he might not know it if it did. I guess, a diversity of good food, experimentation and listening to your body are always good advice. Also one of the major problems most people have is they simply consume too many calories. <br /><br />I also think there could be a certain level of truth to the proposition ‘you're only as smart as the people around you’ of course it is not true in the literal sense but definitely if you are surrounded by intelligent people you have access to some of their knowledge and thought processes which you do not have when surrounded by less intelligent people. That can help you. <br /><br />Steve DAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3697041069822813301.post-1317072192512407202010-03-05T20:17:23.308-06:002010-03-05T20:17:23.308-06:00Mr. Laughlin - 1. Yes, I could (and am) do that, b...Mr. Laughlin - 1. Yes, I could (and am) do that, but the difficulty is that even the bare minimum can be frustrating. There's a larger context I'm not revealing (due to it being personal) that makes even a few minutes with this person enough to grate on my nerves.<br /><br />2. Hmm, yes, there is a Mark Twain quote to that tone isn't there? Possibly paraphrased: "I've never met a person so stupid that I didn't learn anything from him."<br /><br />duffne: "The logic book won’t help a lot since you already seem to be able to use it quite well and Y doesn’t use it at all. Perhaps you could suggest the book to him although somehow I suspect he wouldn’t read it."<br /><br />I'm about 100% positive he wouldn't read it. A few months ago I was getting irritated with his constantly complaining of the prices of his medicines, in which he implied it was terrible of the drug companies to charge such a high price. After trying over and over to explain to him why prices were so high (the FDA's imposed operating costs) I finally grabbed the appropriate copy of *The Objective Standard* and pointed him to the proper article, but, with a bit of guilt on his face, he refused to read it, stating his doctor had already given him a lot to read. He consistently complains about being bored and having little to do, and here he is suddenly too busy with other reading to read an article. <br /><br />"At some point just saying something like. 'that is my informed opinion and I am not going to argue about this any further.' is probably indicated."<br /><br />Good idea.<br /><br />"'ironic: he disagrees with me vehemently about fat and cholesterol but solicits my nutritional advice still'<br /><br />This is saying something very interesting about his psychology although what it is I am not exactly sure. At some level it seems he may recognize your arguments are valid and his are not and perhaps he may resent that?"<br /><br />I agree. He's a type of person that's terrified to apply his own judgment to his actions, so instead he depends on the feelings (and sometimes thinking) of other people. He knows I'm interested in health issues and so asks for my thoughts, but when my thoughts happen to clash with a greater number of people in his life he refuses to make a rational assessment of who's right and who's wrong and so instead goes with the judgments of the larger body of people.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02343632915029739024noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3697041069822813301.post-74327836739588240492010-03-05T18:38:42.759-06:002010-03-05T18:38:42.759-06:00I think you should limit your conversations with Y...I think you should limit your conversations with Y to stuff like weather and small talk. Do not waste your cognitive effort on him. The logic book won’t help a lot since you already seem to be able to use it quite well and Y doesn’t use it at all. Perhaps you could suggest the book to him although somehow I suspect he wouldn’t read it. <br /><br />At some point just saying something like. “that is my informed opinion and I am not going to argue about this any further.” is probably indicated. <br /><br />I’ve had similar experiences to what you describe as your mind going blank. Mental exhaustion, excessive repetition may be at least partly causing this as well as the mental jamming you suggest. It might be a good idea to have conversations with rationale people when you can as a possible counter to this. <br /><br />“ironic: he disagrees with me vehemently about fat and cholesterol but solicits my nutritional advice still”<br /><br />This is saying something very interesting about his psychology although what it is I am not exactly sure. At some level it seems he may recognize your arguments are valid and his are not and perhaps he may resent that?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3697041069822813301.post-11414338175276386392010-03-05T13:10:31.183-06:002010-03-05T13:10:31.183-06:001. If you must deal with him, then can you limit y...1. If you must deal with him, then can you limit your dealings to the "must" part and drop all other communications with him?<br /><br />2. In answer to your main question, I would say, based on personal experience, that such a situation, properly managed, shouldn't have any adverse affect on your mind. To the contrary, you might learn some valuable lessons -- such as never arguing about specialized scientific subjects when neither of you is an expert or never ever argue with an evader (unless there is someone in your audience you are indirectly addressing).<br /><br />With diet -- and mine is radically different from yours -- I have found the best approach for me is to make the information available in some form, for example, . . . <br /><br />http://anti-itisdiet.blogspot.com/2007/10/history-of-inflammation.html<br /><br />. . . and then teach by example, without evangelism.Burgess Laughlinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13865479709475171678noreply@blogger.com