How to Talk to a Closed-Minded Person: Chapter 1

See also "How to Talk to a Closed-Minded Person: Introduction".
Chapter 1: Keep in mind...
Just think to yourself ‘I’m a human, not a stereotype. I am not liberal, nor am I conservative, I am a collection of views that do not have to be diluted into one simple word of relative perception’.

Stick with it

If the time is right, state your opinions and stand by them! However, keep in mind this advice is not for the weak of heart or those easily swayed — even by faulty logic.

You have a fine chance of being trashed for holding beliefs not identical to the closed-minded person you are conversing with.

There is a large possibility you will go to hell, or at least the closed-minded may try to convince you so.

Attitude
Be nice — to a degree. Even if the narrow-minded is being rude, your best response is not to mirror their attitude. If anything your rudeness would end the debate prematurely, thus lowering the intelligence of the discussion and any further discussion with a narrow-minded person. Vengeance breeds vengeance.

Britannica or Limbaugh?
Cite good sources, but don’t just be like a walking, talking encyclopedia. You need to find a good balance between fact and opinion, not passing off one as the other.

Be passionate, not dull, in expressing your thoughts. However do not go over the edge with your enthusiasm; you aren’t a cheerleader for your causes and viewpoints, you are a communications director. You want to be the domineering one in the debate, but not the only one who says anything — and vice versa.

A causal debate is like fencing, but without the rules, except those ‘proper’ rules and societal guidelines. One could also compare it to a drive-by shooting, but instead of bullets coming out of the gun, words of knowledge are. (I need to work on my metaphors.)

Remember…
There is a difference between not letting someone push their views on you and not listening, accepting, and/or understanding — or trying to understand — the views differing from your own. Many people forget that by not respecting the right of people to form and hold opinions, some are infringing on the open-minded principles they themselves hold. For example, I respect the right of Holocaust deniers to hold their beliefs that the Holocaust did not exist (hot topic nowadays, I know). I do not agree with their views, in fact I find them faulty and disgusting, but it is one’s right to hold one’s own views; freedom of expression. Not attempting at all to respect another’s views, or even blatant facts, is a trait of the closed-minded.

From what we’ve talked about so far…
In stating, or defending, your perspective:

Don’t be rude;

be acceptable while still retaining your arguments;

too much aggressiveness will not get you anywhere;

don’t label or stereotype unless you want the same to be done to you and your beliefs;

clarity will make your argument easier for others to understand and you to defend in the long run;

charisma and passion show you believe in what you are saying;

do not just be a talking points booklet;

remember stereotyping and polarization can be a double-edged sword;

admit when you are wrong, but don’t disable your argument by doing so;

cite facts and credible research, be knowledgeable without coming off as a (total) snob;

utilize your knowledge and areas of specialization;

refer to relevant facts and history, not just the current day stuff, when laying out your argument;

(at the risk of sounding cliché) be yourself;

as mentioned, uniqueness can help in deferring the labels placed on your beliefs and will help you with how you identify you and your views.

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How to Talk to a Closed-Minded Person: Introduction

Have a hard time dealing with those narrow-minded people in your life? Whether they be your in-laws, the store cashier, or your coworkers, this guide may be able to help…

Consider this the Introduction to How to Talk to a Closed-Minded Person (If You Must), a new blog post series — which will hopefully end up looking like a serialized book — written entirely by me. This will be a societal guidebook, mixed with to political and personal references, to dealing with and understanding the minds of the narrow, and of the wide. How someone chooses to gather and accept information — whether it be facts or opinion — tells you who they are on multiple scales. In all simplicity this is a psychological, societal, political, and personal guide. When this is all finished, I will make this series into an ebook available as a PDF download for In Perspective readers.

Throughout this guide I’ll often refer to the closed-minded person as “the person you are talking to” or just “the closed-minded” or “the narrow-minded”. You know who they are.

The Oxford English Dictionary defines “narrow-minded” as

not willing to listen to or tolerate other people's views; prejudiced.

American Heritage says “closed-minded” or “close-minded” is the

Intolerant of the beliefs and opinions of others; stubbornly unreceptive to new ideas.

The terminology is similar to “narrow minded”:

lacking tolerance or flexibility or breadth of view.

Thus, ‘narrow-‘ and ‘closed-minded’ are, for all practical purposes, synonymous and are used interchangeably in this guide.

Anyone familiar with the works of Ann Coulter knows my title is styled after her book How to Talk to a Liberal (If You Must) (complete bullocks, by the way). Just going by her distorted definition of the word "liberal", you know that woman is either insane or a good actor — call her whatever you want. I do not hope for this guide to resort to that hitting-below-the-knees, nonsensical, partisan mudslinging, disgusting extreme ideological polarization that people like Coulter stoop to.

This series will have a relaxed and informal, sometimes humorous outlook. I hope for some of it to sound laid back, so the layperson can relate to it.

How to Talk to a Narrow-Minded Pompous Ass (If You Must) was originally going to be the title of this multi-part blog post series, but I decided to shorten and mellow down the title a bit. The series is to come in chapters; the final product might be in chapters too.

Just as a note: this is not an attack on Christianity or other religions. People have a right to hold their own beliefs; I respect that right, even if I don’t respect the beliefs. But there are parts of the Bible praising the narrow-minded:

... narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
--Jesus Christ, Matthew 7:14

I wrote this guide partly for fun, and partly because of people, lunatics in fact, like Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh, but also so called firebrand lefties in the United States who also refuse to employ the tactic of logic and utilize a closed-mindedness of considerable proportions. I find it amazing how these kinds of people have millions of readers, listeners, and followers. They are treated like gods by some, and the devil by others. Their partisanship only furthers the polarized divide in the mind numbingly closed-minded realms of American politics and ideology.

~clearthought
http://cafzal.blogspot.com/