Can We Deal with Irrationality?

When we consider the events that led to WW2, we are haunted by one question. At what point should people have realized that Adolf Hitler was not just an "aggressive nationalist" but a threat to world peace, and possibly to civilization itself? It's a complicated question and one that has many dimensions. But I think that one important indication is that Hitler was unappeasable. He continued to make more and more demands, and there was no end point except world domination.

Irrationality, of course didn't end with Hitler. Political extremism, takes many forms. We can see Al Qaeda, who's extreme and twisted version of Islam has led it to conduct a global campaign of terror, much of it directed at Muslims they don't approve of. In the wake of the attacks of 9/11/2001 we Americans thought that Al Qaeda was going to lead some kind of Pan-Islamic Jihad. In reality, all they have done is wreak death and destruction.

The problem happens when people adopt beliefs that are unarguable, that must be accepted or rejected. When persons adopt the position that you are either with them or against them, then how can they be dealt with?