Robt. F Kennedy jr. gave the keynote presentation at Wise Traditions 2021 (Weston A. Price foundation) It is an excellent presentation and what caught my attention was his reference to the Socratic method of questioning to break through.

Quite a Q moment.

https://www.westonaprice.org/health-topics/money-intersects-public-health-policy/#gsc.tab=0

I talked to a famous social psychologist. I said, “How do you reach somebody? You know what happens when you talk to these people, they get angry at you, they get ferocious. They are not going to hear it. It is a religious feature of orthodoxies and it’s built into us. How do you reach somebody through the orthodoxy?” He said that it’s formulaic. If you approach somebody who is part of that belief system by challenging their beliefs directly or show­ing them factual evidence, it will only fortify their entrenched belief. The way to confront or convert them is through the Socratic method of asking them questions. Then if they don’t feel threatened from outside, the doubts begin from within and that shatters the fortification.

Let’s go out, ask a lot of questions, commit a lot of civil disobedience, and let’s all be ready to die with our boots on. When you’re in a fist fight you don’t land every blow, but you keep on swinging, and that’s the only way to win.

I talked to a famous social psychologist. I said, “How do you reach somebody? You know what happens when you talk to these people, they get angry at you, they get ferocious. They are not going to hear it. It is a religious feature of orthodoxies and it’s built into us. How do you reach somebody through the orthodoxy?” He said that it’s formulaic. If you approach somebody who is part of that belief system by challenging their beliefs directly or show­ing them factual evidence, it will only fortify their entrenched belief. The way to confront or convert them is through the Socratic method of asking them questions. Then if they don’t feel threatened from outside, the doubts begin from within and that shatters the fortification.

Let’s go out, ask a lot of questions, commit a lot of civil disobedience, and let’s all be ready to die with our boots on. When you’re in a fist fight you don’t land every blow, but you keep on swinging, and that’s the only way to win.