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mk · 4454 days ago · link · · parent · post: John S. Wilkins: Doxastic biases and arguments for religion (and other things)
All of this presumes that the point of making an argument is to convert instead of to express.
I don't see it as that narrow. In fact, I think a point being made here is that when we are considering the foundation of our own beliefs (whether or not the motivation is to convert others), we lean on our argument's strength rather than its logical merit. i.e. "I believe the correct thing because my logic is convincing." rather than "I believe the correct thing because my logic is sound." That's why he compares it to a choice in operating system. Most people cannot determine whether their choice of OS is sound, but they can make convincing arguments for their decision, and that they consider to be good enough. Which it very well might be, when it comes to OSes. I'm not sure about religion.