It depends on who you are too.
The Dunning-Kruger effect makes it hard for people to understand where their capabilities really make them capable or where they fail. For instance, though scoring in the top 2% on the past three IQ tests I took, I did not immediately comprehend what this meant for me. Most of my life I've spent believing that everyone is either as intelligent as I am or even brighter. People tend to act this way, as if they are so sure of what they know, and seem to be successful, so why did the IQ tests show different?
I learned from studying the Dunning-Kruger effect that the opposite happens with people in the nominal range of IQ: the average person sees themselves as brighter than their neighbor, and any information they get that comes their way that seems to run contrary to this belief is rejected as "stupid."
What does this have to do with this thread? Well, without giving everyone here an IQ test, I've noticed that a large number of posters here seem to think as I naturally do, in the D-K manner: sure of what they believe but open to the possibility that they might be mistaken and that someone else might have so input of value. Again and again I am pretty much amazed to find this here because it is rare in the real world.
The so-called "ignorant," by comparison, are ignorant of their ignorance. According to D-K, the average person cannot see the brilliance in others, believing it is available only in themselves.
True, I am not saying everyone on this board can go out today and score on the far right of the Bell scale on the IQ exam, but I am noticing a pattern that seems to suggest most of us who have left the Watchtower appear to have traits that would put many on the higher-than-average level. Look at what we talk about, the depth of our arguments and debates. Compare that to the drivel that comes out of the Watchtower today.
It is true that most people do things as a reaction, due to emotion. We all do. But even if an emotion is the first response, it seems in many of us it is the logical conclusions we make that has given us the "gas" to move out from the shadows. It is one thing to get up, another to move out, and a whole other sack-of-potatoes to stay away for good. Emotion alone doesn't cut it.
For now I have a working theory that many of us who leave the JWs for good do so because it is within our nature. We are prone to think a bit more out-of-the-box than the average bear. We aren't smarter, no. IQ is not about being smarter--it's about being innovative with the data you have on hand.
We had exposure to the same "truths" everyone else in the Watchtower does. But we came to far different conclusions. We left.
Perhaps others don't leave not merely because emotion governs them more than logic, but because they aren't good with logic. Logical arguments don't work with them because, granted, they get lost. I know some of you have seen the same "deer in the headlights" look I've gotten when trying to explain things to JWs. Their eyes glaze over and they just turn off and stop following.
Is it all brainwashing? It is just emotion? I think it's because they don't have that something else that contributes to more a mentally enabled person.
We may not be perfect here. We may not all disagree. But whatever we are, we tend to be logical about it. Notice: I'm a religious Jew, but am I as illogical as other religious people you have met? I seem to be able to be at peace with non-religious folks here. Why? We share logic and critical thinking in common.
To be honest I don't always like hanging around average religious people because they aren't into theology or other in-depth study of the beliefs we cherish. It's like it's all emotion with them. I sometimes would rather spend time chatting here and even debating with many of you because it is more fulfilling and I learn to appreciate people more.
So perhaps our dearest friends and family left behind in the Watchtower are there because they cannot think themselves out. Our logical arguments don't appeal to them because only emotion does the trick. And if we are even slightly gifted with critical thinking, then as D-K suggest, most people don't comprehend what we are talking about or don't consider it significant.
But I still think logic helps many. It did me. But for many, many more a more emotional approach may be what is needed. It is the difference between being scared to learn and curious to learn. I think most of us here are the more curious type.