preaching to the choir & changing perceptions

Reading Paul Krugman’s recent opinion in the New York Times, “Apocalypse Becomes the New Normal” I was reminded me of The Richest Man In Babylon by George S. Clason.¹

In the chapter “Meet The Goddess of Good Luck,” Clason writes:

We mortals are changeable. Alas, I must say more apt to change our minds when right than wrong. Wrong, we are stubborn indeed. Right, we are prone to vacillate and let oportunity escape.

Krugman laments the entrenching of conservative politicians which “has, if anything, become even more intense as their position has become more intellectually untenable.”

Certainly the information that’s reaching me is making a convincing case that the changes to the climate are anything but benign and so, I am quite sympathetic to Krugman’s arguments.

On the other hand, if Krugman wished to move people to change their opinion, changing his approach is probably in order. There’s nothing quite like telling someone they’re stupid or wrong to get them to dig in. That said, it seems like Krugman isn’t writing to convince anyone. He’s preaching to the choir.

Footnotes

• ¹ My notes for the book can be found here.