Do we measure people by what they think, or what they do?
We
all measure people by how they made us feel, and don't ever forget that!
That is the key to all human interaction, both positive and negative. It is also the key to being a sucessful conman, politician, preacher, writer, etc. In any situation where you want to elicit certain responses from others, you will be most sucessful if you manipulate their emotions. The lizard-brain never forgets.
Why did G.W. Bush get reelected? Fear
Why did Obama get elected? Hope
In both cases, they and their teams made enough people FEEL a certain way, and then facts became unimportant.
So how does this pertain to any campaign to promote rational thought and bahavior? It tells us that straightforward appeals to logic and reason will probably fail. The best you could do is to show the evil deeds of extremists to generate feelings of disgust in most (sane) people. Of course, religious fanatics will not be moved this way. All you can reasonably hope to acheive is to keep the majority voting against theocratic candidates, etc.
