ABSTRACT
If a young person ends up with a seriously confused or mistaken set of beliefs – if, for example, they end up with a highly bigoted, racist point of view – the Liberal will no doubt try to show them the error of their ways by rational persuasion, by pointing out to them the perhaps unforeseen consequences of what they’ve just said, by revealing how their beliefs involve contradictions, and so on. But for those at the Authoritarian end of the Liberal/ Authoritarian scale, rational persuasion is not an option.The problem with rational persuasion is that it involves getting your subjects to apply their own powers of reason – to think independently. And that, of course, is precisely what the Authoritarian wants to avoid.
