Crickets

Studies have shown that when we ask people to defend their deeply held views on an issue, they will rattle off a series of reasons. When we then ask them to explain how those reasons influence outcome, suddenly their whole argument falls apart for lack of understanding. 

This is because reasons are cheap but critical thought takes effort. 

Many people operate through having desired outcome be defended through fabricated reasoning. In other words, the conclusion comes first and the fabricated explanations come second. 

"Why do you support Brexit?" 

"Because I don't want Britain falling under Sharia Law" 

"What is Sharia Law and by what mechanism would this happen?" 

Crickets. 

The interesting thing is that most of us can fall prey to thinking everyone else suffers from this issue but we are the exception. It is the reason our own thinking on any issue should be examined closely. 

When I was training young engineers I would tell them that if they could arrive at the same answer from two or more directions then they were probably on to something.

It's pretty much mandatory.