Saturday, February 20, 2021

Myth/fact lists don't work

I've long believed that presenting a list of "myths" that you debunk with "facts" is recipe for, shall we say, less effective advocacy. I won't say "myth/fact lists" are completely ineffective. They probably teach some people some things and probably change some minds along some margin. But they usually, in my experience, do a poor job at it.

I propose three reasons for that. 

The first is that the "facts" used to refute the "myths" are themselves often not "facts" in the sense of something that can be verified or falsified. They are usually interpretations based on verifiable/falsifiable facts. The interpretations themselves might be plausible and defensible. But it's usually contestable.

The second is that the "myth" usually contains some truth. That's one reason for its survival as a "myth." Myth/fact lists err, when they do, by framing the myth in a way that obfuscates--or denies--the truth behind it.

The third reason is that the person who believes a "myth" usually does so for reasons the myth buster usually doesn't acknowledge. The myth usually reflects an underlying concern that in itself is either legitimate, or sincerely felt. The facts/interpretations used to bust the myth usually don't touch this underlying concern.

The three reasons can be summed up in larger "meta-reason": myth/fact lists are a way of talking down to those you are trying to convince of something. You may say that ignorance is no excuse for ignorance, and that it's your responsibility to educate people and not coddle them in their errors. In response, I say, "good luck with that." If you really want to convince someone of something, or enlighten them about something, you assume a certain burden of doing so effectively (As an aside, if you're using "educate" or "enlighten" as transitive verbs, that's a sign you're possibly talking down to someone.)

I hedge my bets. I say "usually" a lot in this blog post. Many, maybe most, myth/fact lists make good points. There's often at least one myth that is clearly untrue and debunked by the facts. Just beware that myth/fact lists might not do the work you think they do.

No comments: