What is Street Epistemology?
IOW, Street Epistemology is a nuanced technique for engaging in civil dialogue with people who might disagree with you on a topic that is important to you. Rather than have it out with your opposition, it's a cooperative means of helping them explore their own beliefs. It was first outlined in the book, "A Manual For Creating Atheists," by Peter Boghossian. Spoiler: the title turns out to be a bait-and-switch. Street Epistemology is actually about the best practices of leading people to more rational beliefs. Atheism is what you would be led to by Street Epistemology as long as it is a more rational view than what you started with.
The creator of this video, Anthony Magnabosco, is a master of Street Epistemology. In fact, Anthony is the leading revolutionary who put Street Epistemology from paper to practice. In this video, James openly accepts that the primary reason he believes in a God is because he was raised in it. He also accepts that he can be wrong and that there is nothing wrong with people who do not believe. Barbara agrees. Anthony then sticks the hard question, "If it's possible that the belief is not true, and you're believing in it because you were raised that way, why would you hold on to the belief?" To which James responds with "Because something/somebody is leading me."
There is the beauty of Street Epistemology in my eyes. To me and a few of you readers who love deep thinking, the error in critical thought that James has made here is screaming, "you just said you believe in it because you believe in it!" At the same time, James is sweet and kind. Not dumb, and more importantly, he's not dishonest. This is cognitive dissonance on his part and he's dealing with it right before your eyes by talking about it, unbeknownst to him. Even if James never changes his mind or position, you have to give him credit for trying to think more critically about something he admits he doesn't spend enough time thinking about.
As an Atheist and Street Epistomology proponent who believes that faith and Gods are ridiculous ideas, I respect any theist who can be honest about why they believe. I have learned from engaging in Street Epistemology that the conclusions we arrive at are not nearly as interesting as the the honest reasons of how we got to them. It transforms every harsh disagreement I have into an enjoyable conversation where I appreciate that there is someone to oppose my views with nuance and allow me to reconsider if I could be wrong.
Hope you enjoyed the video. Please feel free to get some conversations going in the comments. You can learn more about Street Epistemology from the above link. I plan on posting these videos regularly to expose this nuanced idea to the masses of Steemit.
Credit: The video was posted with permission from it's creator.
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