NPR had a recent show dealing with a “phenomenon” where people who believe something incorrect will ignore facts showing their belief is in error. So I caroused through the transcript (because I’m not going to waste my time listening to NPR) to get the gist of the show. I was expecting a lot more examples of how “right-wingers” were incorrect for their beliefs once presented with “the facts.” Well it seemed the show didn’t quite devolve too far into that (for NPR at least). This is a call-in show apparently and one of the calls they received interested me greatly:
CONAN: Let’s go next to Chrissie(ph), Chrissie with us from San Francisco.
CHRISSIE (Caller): Yes, I’m just calling to say I changed my mind on two different issues, one about gun ownership. I was originally from Utah, and I didn’t think that people should be able to have guns, and I just thought people were crazy to actually have their own guns.
And then I started to talking to more people and kind of educated myself. And it turned out the man that I married, his father makes bullets, and I went out shooting, and I actually think that people should be able to own their guns. Of course, I think background checks, and, you know, there needs to be definitely some controls over that. But I changed my mind pretty dramatically just through, really through self-education.
And then I also changed my point of view on the death penalty. I really believe that people, if they were convicted, they were dead wrong, and they really should have, you know, should be killed.
And then I educated myself again, and I just don’t really believe in the death penalty at all. I just don’t think that everybody has the same upbringing, the same choices, the same monetary backgrounds, and so I’m really against the death penalty now.
So I’ve changed my point of view just really through, I think, self-education and actually really great programs like this that are offered to us through NPR.
CONAN: Well, Chrissie, that’s very kind of you to say. Thank you very much for that, appreciate it.
CHRISSIE: Thank you.
First of all I’m surprised somebody with that opinion got on the show but the funniest part was how quickly the hosts brushed the caller off and moved on to the next person (and e-mail in this case). Nothing to see hear folks just move along. I’m also glad to hear there are people out there with cognitive abilities in regard to guns, good on the caller.