Dear lemmy, someone very close to my heart is starting to fall into conspiracy theories. It’s heartbreaking. Among other things, he has now told me that soy beans are not supposed to be consumed by human beings and is convinced that despite the literal centuries of human soy bean cultivation and consumption, we shouldn’t eat it or anything derived from it for this reason (ie tofu, soy sauce, etc…evidence that soy is present in other common foods doesn’t seem to register with him).
I don’t even know where he got this information from and can’t find a single source to back it up (even disingenuously). I’ve tried explaining to him that sure, in its original state it’s not edible, but undergoes processing (LIKE MANY OTHER FOODS) to become edible. And that this has gone on since at least the 11th century, so it’s not like Big Soy is trying to poison the little people.
He’s normally a very reasonable and intelligent person, and I don’t know how to reach him. I thought it might be helpful to show him where these myths have come from with hard data sources to prove it. He seems open to the possibility, so I don’t think he’s a lost cause yet!
Help?
And it’s effect on the human body is widely known. You’re not making the point you’re trying to.
I think the point was just that the argument was flawed.
Flawed in that a staple of civilizations’ diets is somehow comparable to a known intoxicant?
I tried to point out that the fact that societies have consumed it for a long amount of time doesn’t inherently imply it’s healthy.
I made a single point, that soy conspiracies are racist and dismiss the civilizations that were raised on them. You latched onto one bit in a dismissive (or ignorant) attempt to debate bro with me. Which is especially jarring if you agree with me when you could have just added a point.
To say something is good merely because it has been consumed for a long period.
Very often people use a terrible argument and reach the right conclusion by chance.
Precisely, the conclusion is correct but the argument was flawed.
Except it’s not chance dude. Soy is one of the richest and cheapest sources of protein.
I agree with you, but we should not compromise logic just to confirm what we believe.
Just add what you want to say as if we were having a normal conversation. Do you talk to people you know like this? So fucking exhausting dude.
You should not dismiss the guy/gal that said liquor has been around for a long time. That is a valid observation and a counter example to your argument, so it positively contributes to the discussion. Try to think about what makes beer different in that it is also part of society but is proven to cause harm, and come out with a different, stronger argument. A person that points out the flaw of your argument is not necessarily your enemy, and may still agree with you after all. Yes. I’m like that in real life.