In this Dispatch:

·         A method for discussing any issue

·         Step One: Stand on the right foundation

·         Step Two: Don't lose sight of step one

·         Step Three: Constantly apply the Golden Rule of Ideas

How You Can Persuade Anyone without Being an Expert
By Perry Willis

Yesterday we explored how most people have to evaluate each issue from scratch, because they fail to use sound heuristics. Remember....

A heuristic -- pronounced hyoo-RIS-tic -- is a simple principle that leads to quick, accurate decisions.

Today we'll explore a heuristic method you can use for discussing any issue.

·         This method has only three steps

·         It's easy to remember.

·         It can help you persuade anyone without having to be an expert.

Step One: Stand on the right foundation

Could a scientific study make you favor State coercion? Or do you feel that....

The MORAL cost of initiating State violence against innocent people exceeds any alleged benefit.

If your true bottom-line is a moral position, then why not just say that? Why try to find a study to refute the Statist study? After all, doesn't the tactic of fighting one study with another study assume that....

1.      Evidence can establish or overturn moral principles.

2.      We can subject society to scientific testing.

3.      We can become experts about how other people should live.

Instead, isn't it true that no amount of evidence can...

·         Make 2 + 2 = 5.

·         Turn murder or theft into moral actions.

·         Overturn The Golden Rule or The Zero Aggression Principle.

It's also true that...

·         You can't conduct controlled experiments on whole cultures, so no social science study can ever really prove anything.

·         It's impossible for mere mortals to become experts on how other people should live.

So why not drop the pretense and the complications? If the real basis of your position is a moral principle, then why don't you just say that?

The moment you make your stand on moral principles, things become easier....

·         You need no longer try to master every subject or pretend to an expertise that no human being can possibly have.

·         You need no longer be intimidated when someone else poses as an expert.

·         Your case rests on rules that everyone already follows in their personal lives and simply extends those rules to "the government."

So the first step is to make your stand on these principles...

The Golden Rule: Treat others as you want to be treated. Don't treat others as they desire NOT to be treated.

The Zero Aggression Principle: Don't initiate harm against others or delegate doing so to "the government." If something is wrong for you to do, then it's also wrong for a group to do it, and a democratically elected government is merely a group.

Step Two: Don't lose sight of step one

It's easy to slip back into the "war of competing studies." Don't do it. Constantly repeat the key heuristics...

·         Evidence can neither establish nor overturn moral principles. They are simply self-evident, like 2+2=4.

·         We cannot conduct controlled experiments on whole cultures, so no social science study can truly prove anything.

·         It's impossible for mere mortals to become experts on how other people should live.

Drive home that last point by doing one thing more. Treat the studies that support you the same way you treat the studies that oppose you. Constantly say the following...

"I will not use studies that favor my position as justification for making you obey my preferences."

For instance: "I will not force you to own a gun just because I have studies showing that more gun ownership leads to less crime."

Notice the connection to the Golden Rule. You are treating yourself the same way you treat others. You are not privileging your own studies over your opponents' studies. Which brings us to...

Step Three: Constantly apply The Golden Rule of Ideas

Treat your own ideas the same way you treat opposing concepts. Make your opponent do the same.

Statists will try to refute your moral principles using outlandish scenarios. But they always fail to subject their own proposals to the same scenarios. They want the net down when they're serving and the net up while you're serving.

Don't let this happen. Point it out. Doing this will dissolve nearly every scenario intended to justify the initiation of force by The State. Now...

Go forth and exercise moral suasion!

Step One: Base your arguments on The Golden Rule and the Zero Aggression Principle.
Step Two: Don't lose sight of step one.
Step Three: Apply the Golden Rule of Ideas. Always subject competing ideas to the same standards.

-- END --

We hope you like where we're going. If so, please help us to build the software for our new website, the Zero Aggression Project. DC Downsizers have already seen and tested early versions of this software. But the next version will be even more powerful.

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