Mere Fidelity How Do We Change Our Minds?
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Nov 12, 2025 Derek and Alastair delve into how minds change through various means, including experience and careful argumentation. They emphasize the importance of steelmanning opponents to encourage genuine dialogue. The conversation shifts to how public debates often influence observers rather than opponents. They explore the influence of media algorithms on persuasion and advocate for deeper connections through friendship and local community discussions to facilitate meaningful belief changes.
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Multiple Paths To Changing Beliefs
- Minds change in different ways: paradigm shifts, experience, textual corrections, or gradual accumulation of doubts.
- Recognize these distinct pathways when evaluating how beliefs form or shift.
Reading And Life Shaped Theology
- Derek describes reading Vanhoozer and shifting from biblical-studies-only to systematic theology.
- Personal crises (like health) also softened his framework toward Reformed providence.
Raise Questions, Then Step Back
- Raise the small niggling questions that erode a person's framework, then give them space to wrestle privately.
- Present your alternative as a coherent, plausible framework rather than constantly arguing it down.
