When a group of people are looking at a set of logic prints (the illustrated connections between And's and Or's). Some extremely smart hardware design engineers are usually the first to explain circuitry's operation, and what was probably intended. Over a period of time these people learn that those who disagree with them are usually wrong.
When social issues get discussed at the lunch table, there may be more than one of these clever people with a completely rigid opinion. I found that the following statement usually helps calm down the existing dissension:
"When you and I are dealing with the same set of facts (such as a set of prints) we can almost always agree on whether a specific circuit node will be a 1 or 0 under specific circumstances. However, your social values are the result of conclusions you have come to based on the information you have available from the experiences you have had. Other people have had different experiences, from which they acquired different information that led them to different conclusions."
I have been amazed at how many (smart) people change their attitude (if not conclusions)as a result.