Stop Trying to Convince BLPs

Stop Trying to Convince BLPs

You can't logic someone out of a position they didn't logic themselves into. And damn, is that a hard lesson to learn. We’ve all been there, right? You’re armed with facts, data, and a perfectly reasoned argument, ready to enlighten some poor soul who just doesn’t get it. You lay it all out, a beautiful tapestry of logic and evidence, expecting a "Eureka!" moment. Instead, you get a blank stare, a doubling-down on their bullshit, or worse, they get angry. You walk away frustrated, drained, and wondering why you even bothered.

The answer is simple: you were trying to have a rational conversation with someone who isn’t operating on the same wavelength. You were speaking Forward-Looking People (FLP) language to a Backward-Looking Person (BLP), and it’s like trying to run modern software on a computer from 1985. It just doesn’t compute.

The Problem: Our Obsession with Being Right

We’re conditioned to believe that truth and logic are the ultimate trump cards. That if you just explain things clearly enough, people will see the light. This is a noble, but ultimately naive, worldview. It assumes everyone is playing the same game, by the same rules. They aren’t.

Backward-Looking People aren’t interested in adapting their worldview. Their identity is fused to their beliefs. They’ve built a fortress of certainty around themselves, and your facts are seen not as helpful information, but as cannonballs threatening to tear it all down. To a BLP, admitting they are wrong isn’t just a simple correction; it’s an existential threat. Their entire sense of self is tied to being right, to the world being exactly as they’ve always perceived it. They are systems at equilibrium, desperately trying to maintain stasis in a universe that demands constant change.

"The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance - it is the illusion of knowledge." - Daniel J. Boorstin

This is the core of the issue. You’re not debating facts; you’re attacking a person’s identity. And when people feel attacked, they don’t listen. They defend. They dig their heels in, grab their shields, and prepare for battle. You could have a mountain of evidence, peer-reviewed studies, and a signed affidavit from God himself, and it wouldn’t make a damn bit of difference. Their system is closed. No new data is getting in.

I pitch Tim Draper and he didn't even know what a dispensary was and he lived in San Francisco (Sand Hill Rd) but still. Draper said he was gonna invest until the last minute because of LPs (typical).

The Application: Stop Arguing, Start Building

So what do you do? You’ve got this BLP in your life—a family member, a coworker, maybe even a part of yourself—and you know they’re wrong. The urge to correct them, to show them the light, is overwhelming.

Don’t. Just… stop.

You are wasting your precious, finite energy. You are a far-from-equilibrium system, and you need that energy to create, to build, to evolve. Pouring it into the black hole of a BLP’s closed-off mind is the thermodynamic equivalent of setting your money on fire. It accomplishes nothing and leaves you poorer.

Instead of trying to convince them, do this:

1. Focus on Your Own Flow: Double down on being an FLP. Seek out new information. Challenge your own beliefs. Surround yourself with other FLPs who will push you and help you grow. Build your own open, adaptive system. Your success and your example will be a far more powerful "argument" than any lecture you could give.
2. Build New Systems: Don’t try to reform the old, broken systems. Build new ones. This was the whole ethos of Weedmaps. We didn’t try to convince the old guard. We built a new platform that made their old way of doing things obsolete. We created a new reality. Let the BLPs cling to their rocks in the river. You’re busy building a boat.
3. Set Boundaries: You don’t have to engage. When a BLP starts their nonsense, you have every right to say, "I’m not going to have this conversation with you." It’s not about being rude; it’s about conserving your energy for things that matter. It’s about protecting your own system from their entropic, energy-sucking vortex.

I’m not saying to abandon these people. I’m saying to change the nature of your interaction. Love them, support them as human beings, but stop trying to change their minds. It’s not your job. Your job is to move forward.

The Takeaway: Flow, Adapt, Evolve

Your energy is your most valuable resource. It’s the fuel you use to fight entropy, to create order in your own life, and to build a better future. Every moment you spend trying to drag a BLP into the present is a moment you’re not spending on your own evolution.

It’s a hard truth to swallow, especially when you care about these people. But you can’t want something for someone more than they want it for themselves. You can’t force a system to be open. All you can do is be the best damn example of an open, adaptive, forward-looking system you can be.

So, the next time you feel that urge to argue, to lay out your perfect, logical case, take a deep breath. Remember Dr. Bob. Remember the Second Law. And then, walk away. Go build something. Go learn something. Go do something that moves the needle, even just a tiny bit, in the direction of the future.

Let them be rocks. You’re a river.

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