Discussion response (300 words)

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I have to replay to two of my classmate discussion post each one 150 words

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What did Max Weber mean by the concept “inconvenient facts”? According to McIntyre, why is it difficult for the average person to come up with examples of “inconvenient facts?” Do you agree or disagree with her assessment? Explain. (1) Weber describes inconvenient facts as those that stand in direct opposition to existing knowledge of a person which is usually based on ideas passed down and around without much empirical evidence. Empirical evidence, for the record, can be described as objective information that is verifiable by various modes of research. The primary reason that I can identify is that Weber holds the opinion, and rightly so, that inconvenient facts go against a certain set of core beliefs for a person. This set of beliefs, according to Weber is close to a person’s identity, as to how he or she sees him or herself. That much being said, obviously coming up examples of accepting examples that shakes one’s identity and put him or her on a thoroughly shaky path is something no one wants; people rarely like uncertainty. An average person who has not yet learned to question him or herself and his or her surroundings is much less likely to come up with ideas that are an anomaly to begin with. According to a lecture that Weber delivered in Munich, he highlighted how the goal of educationists and the education system is to help students engage with knowledge in such a way that they are able to identify inconvenient knowledge and facts. This in turn, Weber argues, brings in self-clarification something an average person lacks, with or without education, and which could be why such a person is unable to come up with inconvenient facts. Additionally, according to McIntyre several factors contribute to a reluctance to accept inconvenient facts but most of them stem out of notions such as ethnocentrism and cultural relativism. To elaborate further, ethnocentrism is described as the idea via which people give added weightage to their own beliefs deeming them as superior and, placing them at the center of importance, view all other sets of beliefs, stretched out to the periphery, and as inferior and unnecessary. Secondly, cultural relativism is described as the idea that people have a predefined judgment context in their heads, based on their own set of norms and beliefs, which they use as a sort of a yardstick for other sets of beliefs to judge their acceptability. Both these notions highlight how an average person has a tendency to prioritize his or her own beliefs over those of the others and see him or herself as right and the others as wrong. Such views can be described as dogmatic views and require hard personal enlightenment, training and assessment. To conclude, I would like to quote F. Scott Fitzgerald where he says that the ability to hold to opposing thoughts in one’s mind and still retain the ability to function is the mark of first-rate intelligence. (2) Max Weber coined the term of “inconvenient facts” to refer to facts that contradict an average individual or groups belief. He describes that those people are set on their belief of the social world and that they do not want to accept new evidence that would contradict it. Their reasoning may be due to only knowing one other “truth” in their upbringing, making it difficult to accept a new one. According to McIntyre, it is difficult for the average person to come up with inconvenient facts because it is easier pretend they do not exist. I do not disagree with McIntyre’s assessment but I also believe there is much more to it than people simply remaining ignorant of a fact inconvenient to them. Our capability for coming up with an inconvenient fact would depend on what belief you or someone else remain set on. A belief we have been taught by someone like our parents or other important figure in our young life would heavily influence how ingrained that thought is with us. Changing someone with that mindset would be incredibly arduous. One step that could be attempted is gathering evidence from trusted sources. Following that, we can only do as much as we are willing to do in order to convince someone. Convincing someone that what they see as inconvenient is in fact the accepted truth requires significant investment. On this part, I agree that it is often much easier to ignore those facts. There is an unfortunate limit to what evidence can do to convince people that see it as an inconvenient truth. An example could be seen in the flat-earth society. Evidence from the parallax effect of the stars at night to the various images from satellites orbiting our globe seems to not be enough despite being as concrete as possible, aside from sending those people to space themselves. At that point, people who see well defined evidence and continue to live in ignorance require something I don’t think more evidence can provide. A different approach to people with a bias or an agenda in order to convince them is where I would once again agree with McIntyre on. Similarly unconvinced people or groups live in a place where their ideas are echoed and reaffirms itself, convincing themselves as well as evidence could convince a more reasonable person. Their culture, community, and source of news and evidence hold a much stronger influence that we cannot always break.
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What did Max Weber mean by the concept "inconvenient facts"?
According to Max Weber, inconvenient facts are those ideas that directly try to
disapprove one's existing knowledge. The inconvenient facts usually don't have the empirical
supportive evidence or facts compared to the existing knowledge.
According to McIntyre, why is it difficult for the...


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