How is it possible for so many people to have divergent views ...?

[kentuck]

..on the truth?

We cannot comprehend the people that stood up and cheered for Bush yesterday in West Virginia. How could they be so unaware of the facts? Why do they not see the truth the way we see it? Is there any way to rescue them from the Pied Piper? Or are they doomed to march into the sea?

Do they not know that Bush broke the law? That he has been spying on Americans? Is it enough for him to say that he is protecting them from the "evil doers"? Are they so separated from reality that they really do not know they are being lied to? Is it possible to get through to these people? If so, how?

[jrw14125]

1. Because 300 years ago...

these same people's ancestors were probably burning witches.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

2. Because there's no such thing as "truth"

Only matters of perspective. From their perspective, it doesn't matter what the President said before - the bottom line is the same. It doesn't matter that he broke the law by spying on Americans, only that he's "protecting" us while doing so. Or worse, none of it matters at all because he's a "true Christian".

Truth has little to do with much of anything in life.

[kentuck]

7. So, there's no such thing as a "lie" ?

either? :shrug:

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

11. No

The two are not antonyms. A lie is an intentional deception of facts. Facts are not the same as a capital "T" absolute truth.

[kentuck]

16. Not to belabor the point...

but is the truth with a small "t" different from the Truth with a capital "T"? We're not talking about some big philosophical muddle here. Yes, we can differentiate "facts" from the large Truth. Is it the "truth" that we were lied into a war? Is it the truth that we are now in debt up to our eyeballs? Is it the truth that over 2300 troops have died in Iraq because of the decision of George W Bush and his supporters? It seems to me that we shoot ourselves in the foot when we say there is no such thing as the truth. How else are we supposed to differentiate between opposing viewpoints? One is the same as the other? Never mind the falsehoods. That's only their perspective.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

18. To you and I, yes, we were lied to.

To them, I'm sure we were told what we needed to hear for our own good. That's their perspective on the exact same set of facts.

[MadMaddie]

3. Sadly to say...they will have to be directly impacted

by the Iraq war or they will have to suffer a natural disaster like the Gulf Coast to wake up....

I don't want to see any more soldiers wounded or killed and I sure as hell don't want to see another storm like Katrina (I think they are predicting major hurricanes)

Or an attack on Iran...(I think that the * cabal would have to reinstate the draft to go to another war of choice)

It's sad....

[notadmblnd]

15. You're absolutely right MadMaddie

they're still living in a different reality. It hasn't touched them yet. They still have their jobs.. they still have their young family members.. they still have their homes and they still don't feel their private lives have been invaded enough by big brother. When the effects of the bush regime finally touch them and their family's personally.. is when they'll begin to wake up.

[Atman]

4. There are 300,000,000 people in the U.S.

How is it possible anyone could expect there would not be divergent views?

If just 1/10th of 1% of the population had "divergent views," that is still a shitload of people.

[blm]

5. They are part of the majority that relies on corporate news media to give

them the facts.

Corporate news media has been controlled by fascist allies of the GOP since they bought up most broadcast media in the 80s and 90s.

[Jeffersons Ghost]

19. you can thank Reagan for that

He dismantled the FCC making it possible for Clear Channel, where bushie made his only personal million, to buy up all the radio in Amerika.

[Dogmudgeon]

6. It was a military crowd

There were a LOT of prepared audience members.

If you'll notice, most of Bush's most pleasant photo-ops come from prepared Military audiences, stocked with enlistees and junior officers who are kept on very short leashes and expected to act as though Bush is the Messiah.

Then, when they leave the service, they talk about how much they hated that Em Eff.

--p!

[Hosnon]

8. The "Truth", big T, is impossible to know. The best we can get is a very

high percentage (of probability). As that percentage shrinks, individual assumptions as to the "Truth" of a fact begin to play a part and views on what is true and what is false begin to diverge.

[IsItJustMe]

9. Because these people would be just as happy with an apple pie dictatorship

in America.

[AtomicKitten]

10. cuz the kool-aid is tasty

[On the Road]

12. *THAT* the $64,000 Question

and IMO understanding how it happens is the key to winning elections.

People seem to think it's selling out to bring this up, but it has nothing to do with changing your own views. It's why Bill Clinton got elected, and why the next Democratic nominee better understand it, too.

Part of it is working from a different set of information. Part of it is not trusting the sources of good information. A lot of it is emotional. A lot of it is group identification, both with politicans and with likeminded family and friends.

It is possible to bridge the gap. But it has to be worked on the right way.

[sui generis]

13. they worship authority

Authority means they don't have to be responsible for thinking or knowing anything. Being a critical thinker means taking a chance that you might be responsible for your own opinions, and worse, that you might occasionally be wrong or have to relearn something with new information. That's anathema to them, because they are mentally lazy.

If they align themselves with power and authority, it means they in turn are powerful and authoritative. Of course they see nothing wrong with giving as much power and authority to one person as possible - it's much easier to remember who you support that way. They despise individuality and independence, yet accuse independent individuals of having clannish agendas and groupthink. They are some of the most fucked up under-evolved semi-people our society produces, and most are hopelessly broken.

Authoritarianism is a personality disorder and a character flaw. All we can do is teach our children to be critical thinkers, and to win over the darkness in overwhelming numbers.

[kentuck]

14. Most of these folks would have been perfectly content under....

Saddam Hussein ?

[sui generis]

17. exactly

that's how people like Saddam and Bush get to remain in power. They have a steady base of authoritarian leeches.

[stickdog]

20. It was West Virginia.

As in

"Dad, can I borrow the keys to the car?"

...