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[–] Calorie-Kin [S] 0 points 2 points (+2|-0) ago 

A round earth was probably not inline with most people's gut feelings.

How can we then, as logical people, avoid confirmation bias? Do you notice when you're biased? How then can we expect others (this includes religious people) to stop for a second and re-evaluate their beliefs, when we ourselves react emotionally and not always objectively to things that aren't inline with our reasoning.

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[–] shortass 0 points 3 points (+3|-0) ago 

you avoid a confirmation bias by being ready at the drop of a hat to change what you understand/believe the moment new evidence arrives. it also helps if you can evaluate evidence objectively that takes practice.

as for changing peoples minds, just be honest when answering questions. if you don't know the answer say you don't know. don't get angry.. just explain the argument calmly and carefully.

i don't think i managed to change anyone's minds despite my best efforts. religion offers people without critical thinking skills a comfort which i cant replace.

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[–] Calorie-Kin [S] ago 

I believe I did manage to change the opinions of a few people, or in the very least made them re-evaluate their positions. But I think "critical thinking" should be a subject taught at schools. It goes against human nature, but so do a lot of other things.

If you teach critical thinking skills without giving extreme examples (like religion) that could cause cognitive dissonance, more people might adopt the idea. And, in turn, may actually start examining their beliefs independently.