The JHWH:
Maksutov – I don't expect JWs to behave rationally, I learned that when my wife was mentally still in. I do however expect that someone thats never been a JW, thus having no emotional attatchments to the religion, to be interested enough to do some basic research on the subject if he has a loved one with heavy affiliations with the religion.
And I also expect that any outsider with half a brain and even a touch of honesty, regardless of whatever hardships he/she maybe facing, will see the self-evident; its a cult. A lie. Failed predictions, lying about its own history, lying about scientific research(ers), lying about other religions, denying real phenomena, harmful and dangerous policies – if this isn't an obvious hoax then I don't know what is.
From a JW i would expect denial and spinning issues but not from an outsider.
I think that is true of most people, but for someone with a close relative in the cult it is a bit different. Take my FIL for example. While he was working, running his own business, he had colleagues and friends. When he retired, he had nothing but a wife who was busy going to meetings and on the ministry. No friends, no purpose in life, and a fear of death looming. It was a more attractive prospect for him to join her and get his own needs met, than to critically and honestly investigate. He, like most who succumb, does not care whether it is true or not, only whether it makes him feel better than he felt before. There are none so blind as those who don't want to see.