Submitted by antarchi on May 4, 2007 - 14:58.
I don't try to persuade people, at least not consciously. Maybe I do. If so, its a mistake. The right way to do things is not to try to persuade people you're right, but to challenge them to think it through for themselves. Noam Chomsky
Hard for an 'educator' to accept... but he is probably right. You never persuade people by trying to persuade them. If they already want to believe it, they will, without any arguments. If they don't want to or are neutral, trying to persuade them will only entrench them even more firmly in any other trench around the world, but not the one you've specially dug for them.
'How can X think that s/he can control which trench I sit in?'
'I will show X (or myself?) that only I select my own trench'
But this has been pointed out by millions before... In order to persuade an unwilling child to do something, show them you don't care whether they do it or not. Or better still: show them you WANT them to do what they really want to do. And then they're more likely to want to do what they didn't want to do (and you did).
