Sheila, Mary, Merryl, Lynne, Leslie, John and Richard  met at Richard’s to discuss David McRaney’s “How Minds Change” reviewed here:.  The book describes Mcraney’s encounters with various “persuaders” in a variety of circumstances.  He demonstrates that using facts and evidence to change people’s minds doesn’t work: there are psychological and evolutionary reasons why we cling to our beliefs.  Annoyingly, he doesn’t actually reveal the processes involved in persuading others for several chapters, but when he does, they are remarkably consistent in the various cases.  Jung’s theories are similar and the Daoists knew all this way back.  Confronting someone with a new view does not work: first the persuader must show they are not being critical but just asking subject to share where they are on the topic.  This is not surprising really - we get our views first from our parents then from others with our welfare in mind - we shouldn’t talk to strangers.  The persuader asks the subject to quantify their feeling for or against the proposition and encourages them to explain why they gave that score.  They ask for any personal experiences, and the persuader may share their own story, and then leave the subject to think.  The process works and would form a good model for any discussion - but it is to be hoped the persuader is prepared to reconsider their own position in such a discussion.  What was disturbing was the application of the process to “Deep Canvassing”  where the persuader is seeking a “result”.