elizabeth,
It's not true that no one's mind is ever changed in discussions like these, including audiophile controversies like cables, tweaks, burn in etc. There are plenty of audiophiles who have switched from whole-hearted belief in all sorts of subjective audiophile ideas, to skepticism. And of course you will also hear testimonials like "I was skeptical...until I was influenced by reading people's reports on line to try and now I'm a believer."
Personally, my own beliefs have evolved over time, both through personal experience and very much by looking at the case made by people taking different sides of a debate.
Not everyone is as dogmatic as you seem to believe.
The ironic thing is that it's usually those quickest to yell DOGMATIST who don't recognize their own dogmatism. It often goes like this:
Skeptic: "All of us, me, you, are human beings prone to various types of errors in how we interpret our subjective experience. This isn't simply a claim by fiat; it's based on tons of evidence from everyday life to all the biases documented scientifically. So I could be wrong - in fact I've proven myself to be wrong in some cases using tests to uncover my bias. Because every human suffers bias, it's reasonable for you to admit you could be wrong as well. It makes sense therefore to take in to account we could be wrong and ask what methods will help us more reliably tell when we are in error."
Believing Audiophile: "Speak for yourself! My subjectivity and senses are reliable, so I know I'm not wrong about what I KNOW I HEAR! And stop being so DOGMATIC!"
It's not true that no one's mind is ever changed in discussions like these, including audiophile controversies like cables, tweaks, burn in etc. There are plenty of audiophiles who have switched from whole-hearted belief in all sorts of subjective audiophile ideas, to skepticism. And of course you will also hear testimonials like "I was skeptical...until I was influenced by reading people's reports on line to try and now I'm a believer."
Personally, my own beliefs have evolved over time, both through personal experience and very much by looking at the case made by people taking different sides of a debate.
Not everyone is as dogmatic as you seem to believe.
The ironic thing is that it's usually those quickest to yell DOGMATIST who don't recognize their own dogmatism. It often goes like this:
Skeptic: "All of us, me, you, are human beings prone to various types of errors in how we interpret our subjective experience. This isn't simply a claim by fiat; it's based on tons of evidence from everyday life to all the biases documented scientifically. So I could be wrong - in fact I've proven myself to be wrong in some cases using tests to uncover my bias. Because every human suffers bias, it's reasonable for you to admit you could be wrong as well. It makes sense therefore to take in to account we could be wrong and ask what methods will help us more reliably tell when we are in error."
Believing Audiophile: "Speak for yourself! My subjectivity and senses are reliable, so I know I'm not wrong about what I KNOW I HEAR! And stop being so DOGMATIC!"