A thought just occurred to me, a thought that has occupied my mind when I was a young philosophy student and hearing the Pascal’s Wager for the first time.
In presenting his argument for the existence of God, an argument that I believe is rooted more on pragmatism than on faith, I posit the position that the French mathematician has actually presented an argument that merely convinces those that have already been convinced. Personally, I subscribe to the position that the argument begs the question.
My present task, however, has nothing to do with the intricacies and nuances of the Wager. Rather, I would like to state how extremely frustrating current discussions in the public sphere have become on just about any political and social issue. I am beginning to believe that people presently engaging in any public discussion have ceased to believe in the possibility of a successful dialogue. As such, they merely dish out arguments that merely convince those that has already swallowed their positions hook,line and sinker. It’s like Pascal all over again. It’s like interlocutors in public discourses are simply talking to those who are already convinced in their way of thinking.
It becomes more frustrating when the discourse degenerate into name calling.
Can we never have any rational discourse anymore? I am beginning to fear that at the end of the day every issue in this country will simply be resolved via the numbers game. True, this is a democracy where the majority rules.But the argument for democracy rests on a people that has arrived at a decision through a public exercise of reason. Rationality then is an imperative in any commonwealth. But when a society ceases to exercise their civic duty to discuss and thresh out issues, then that society is condemned to be ruled through a tyranny of the majority.
Sorry, but I cannot leave in such a community, I would rather find my own Walden’s pond.
It has dawned on me while listening to the discussions in my Metaphysics class under Z. Lee how extremely difficult objectivity is, nevertheless, I came out of those classes with a firm resolve that difficulty is not tautologous to impossible.
My experience in the parliament of the streets in particular, and in life in general, has made me a firm believer in the free market of ideas. Everyone has a right to find adherents to their way of thinking and convince me through the soundness of their arguments sans populism.
It’s time that we eschew irrationality. It’s time we ground our beliefs on reason and not emotion.
Namimilosopiyang Pinoy 
I admire how you placed it in context of experience.
I came from a congressmans consultation with the private sector a couple of weeks ago and the free market of ideas is present. It was an atmosphere of healthy dialogue between stake holders in a PEZA law amendment and the Rep. was facilitating the dynamics. The Democratic process is good up to a certain point when the numbers involved is a rational measure of advatages and disadvantages for different stakeholder positions. The consultation was fruitful up to that point when stakeholders agreed that there should be an amendment, and all shall collaborate to come up with a workable measurement.After that, I will entrust to the Democratic Process if it pushes through to enactment or not. I guess you can call that Faith. It isnt at all a wager because I did my part as a citizen, I fulfilled that which calls for my abililities. But at the end of the day someone elses numbers game as you call it will have to see through it if it gets addressesd, or not. But one doesnt worry where Faith is laid. Or should we? One can only do so much. Dont sweat the small stuff.
If one engages in a threshing match to be heard and not to have rational discourse, isnt that tyrrany in itself? The beauty in the process is precisely that which makes it imperfect- it gives importance (but not urgency) to both subjective and objective. Any human resolution process involves both.
When consultation was over Rep says a good law will not make anyone happy. At least it will get everyone a piece of the whole cake they want to have.