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For example, I'm all for GM foods and artificial sweeteners and I get very frustrated when people spout bullcrap about them and talk about risks that are nonexistant. I wish I could debate with them and express my points like you do in all the debates you seem to take part in.
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The irony of this is that it is the scientifically illiterate who would help those companies if they were "out to get us", because they'd help focus on non-existent issues that are easily shrugged off, while changing the subject from actual problems with any technology. Instead of saying that some artificial sweeteners cause a lot of bloating because they cannot be metabolized properly, people focus on their alleged cancer-causing capabilities, Big Pharma bullshit, and how somebody is lobbying to push them through, while this is distracting from the fact that they FREAKING CAUSE BLOATING, even when ingested in small quantities, and some interplay with the metabolism in such a way that is actually detrimental to losing weight. This is not true for all of them, though, but we can't reach the subject because people are too busy claiming it causes cancer and autism.
Also, practice is everything - I would not have gained certain qualities if I were not on the other side of the fence, and, when cognitive dissonance was too great, I had to rethink many things. This re-thinking is what people often do on individual subjects without even realizing it, but when it comes to re-thinking one's whole identity, things become much clearer, and the importance of using correct expressions for one's goals also become more apparent, especially after years of religious ambiguity in expression. Saying what you mean, defining what you think is important, and rigorously evaluating and scrutinizing implications of what you say and think may even be more important, which might not appeal to you if you're a new age guru or a muslim trying to rationalize his religion's brand of creationism in 21st century.
That being said, I am generally a very impatient person, so I also practice patience by talking to people like jonhysone, even though they are reluctant to actually join the debate (debates have rules, and he would probably have broken most of them).