The event horizon , the boundary of the region of space-time from which it is not possible to escape, acts rather like a one-way membrane around the black hole... One could well say of the event horizon what the poet Dante said of the entrance to Hell: "All hope abandon, ye who enter here." Anything or anyone who falls through the event horizon will soon reach the region of infinite density and the end of time.Stephen Hawking, A Brief History of Time
D is catholic. Not particularly devout, only attending mass when there's a baptism, wedding or a funeral in the family but still cheering for the catholic team especially on political issues. She has a hard time understanding why would someone raised in a catholic family not be catholic. Presented with arguments she quickly stops listening because "the devil is a clever aruger" and therefore if I sound convincing, it must be "Satan whispering in my ear" and there is no point arguing with the devil.
K is active in the social justice community. She seems to buy into every meme originating in this camp indiscriminately. "Institutoinal opression of blacks today is just as bad as during slavery", "Sex differences don't exist". One of our discussions culminated with her saying something along the lines of:
K: I don't want to hear about your science! I read about what science has to say about [some issue] in uni and it was different from what I have experienced so now I know not to listen to science because it's wrong.
B is an anarcho-libertarian. He spends his days going to libertarian meetups or preaching libertarianism to anyone who would listen and his nights watching libertarian vloggers. By far his favorite is Stefan Molyneux, B trusts him implicitly. I would sometimes challenge B on some of his more extreme views (like euqating parents with slave owners and taxes with theft or insisting on btinging quantum mechanics into discussions of personal responsibility). One of these conversations went like this:
me: I think you would change your mind about this if you just read some actual science on the topic, not just Stefan Molyneux. I have some book recommendations if you're interested.
B: Nah, I'm a very slow reader, that's not going to work.
me: Not a problem, I mostly listen to audiobooks anyway. You should try it, it's very convenient. I can hook you with some good ones.
B: Nope, can't do that either. You see - Stefan Molyneux has all these podcasts and I can't waste time listening to anything else until I have read everything he has ever written and heard everything he has ever said. And he keeps putting out new stuff so...
me: That's terrifying. You have to read more than just one guy or you'll never have an informed opinion. If you don't believe me, go email Stefan Molyneux himself, I'm sure he'll agree.
B: Oh, I don't doubt it. He says that we should learn from many sources all the time. But this is the one thing I have to disagree with him about.
