LOGIC'S FAILURE

In “A Letter to a Young Gentleman, Lately Enter’d Into Holy Orders by a Person of Quality” (1721) Jonathan Swift wrote: 

"Reasoning will never make a Man correct an ill Opinion, which by Reasoning he never acquired."

Maybe you've heard the simplified version which emerged over time:

“You can’t reason someone out of a position they didn’t reason themselves into.”

Certainly rings true, right?

Its only shortcoming as a truism is that it fails to acknowledge how often we run into people who hold positions they didn't reason themselves into. 

Swift's observation is even more salient when, like me, you agree with Scott Adams that we humans don't reason ourselves into the positions we hold but maybe 10% of the time. 

And that 10% reached by logic is the 10% of subjects which don't touch our emotions directly. 

Politics, theology and social issues are all inherently emotional. 

When was the last time you were able to persuade someone to change their political, theological, or social position on a hot topic?

When was the last time someone persuaded you to change one of your positions?

IF persuasion actually occurs, it's more than likely the result of an emotional appeal rather than a logical one.