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September 27, 2005
Silly Argumentation
Sometimes I wonder why we argue about topics on radio, tv, and even in our own homes. This morning I've been listening to an episode of Science Friday that is discussing Plan B medication and its current place in the FDA's approval queue. To briefly sum it up, Plan B was approved for over-the-counter use by a bunch of the FDA's boards, including the ones that have doctors (both the M.D. and Ph.D. types) that actually test the medication in both scientific and real-world tests. There were three guests: a medical doctor who voted for approval, an employee of the FDA who was also for approval, and a medical doctor who voted against approval. These types of shows are always interesting to me because the listener gets to hear many sides of the question in order to really decide what he or she feels on the topic...but...sometimes it's a bit too much for me to listen to these people fight over and over and over about these questions.
The doctor who voted against Plan B was obviously a member of the religious right. All of the points he made were from scientific case studies, not ones that occur in the inner city, and he was easily argued by the other guests, as well as many people who called in. By the end of the show, it was easy to tell that he was frustrated.
Now here's my question: Will this man ever change his opinion on the matter? I doubt it. Have you ever heard someone on one of these shows just break down and say, "Well, gee...I guess you're right." NO!
Why not? Why are we so averse to change, even when it comes to our own opinions. I guess it's because we just want to be right all the time. Well folks, I don't think it's possible to be right all the time, so I'm going to do my part and really question my opinions when someone challenges them, but in doing so, I hope that my challengers will question their own opinions and (inherent) biases as well...
Posted at September 27, 2005 08:37 AM
Comments
Wouldn't it be awesome if more people employed self scrutiny and were open to listening (REALLY LISTENING) to others? I think the reason that this is such a challenge is that when our core beliefs are challenged we aren't exactly sure how to make sense of the world. This leads to feelings of complete anxiety, even terror...the run of the mill existential crisis I suppose. So instead we approach the world with a rigid set of rules (moral, religious,cultural, etc) which both moderate and mediate our responses to life and the problems that are sure to arise.
I however enjoy hearing the types of debates that you refer to...they help inform my own thinking. It would be nice if these debates acted as precursors to actual problem solving dialogues...unfortunately I don't think that is the norm. But then, thats life in a democracy. At some point we must act and hopefully the winner of the debate is the one who considers their position in terms of its effect on the greatest number.
Posted by: Karen at September 27, 2005 05:22 PM
dude you are so wrong
Posted by: Heywood J Blomy at October 2, 2005 05:45 PM