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Emile comments on The Sin of Persuasion - Less Wrong Discussion
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I think "taboo" is a bit of a strong word - if most people don't go around trying to persuade others to change their minds, it's not because they learned a social norm against that, but rather that they learned through trial and error that 1) having someone try to change your mind is annoying, 2) when they try to change someone's mind, that person is likely to be annoyed and less friendly 3) that person is also likely to counter-argument and may push you to re-examine your beliefs, which is uncomfortable.
From a behaviorist point of view, it's a behavior that gets a lot of punishment and no reward, so it's bound to disappear.
Contrast that with something like saying bad things of somebody behind his back, which doesn't get immediate negative feedback, and is kept down mostly by social norms.
It may be a behavior learned by feedback, but that doesn't mean that there aren't strong social norms against it. When I mentioned to a friend my intention to write this article, the first thing it made her think of was a comedian who said that, as a strong Christian, one of the most discomforting things he could hear someone say was "I'd like to talk to you about Jesus." Similarly, consider all the people who take dietary restrictions on themselves for moral rather than health reasons, but are uncomfortable seeing people try to convince others of that same position. These people have internalized a value that causes them to react negatively to others confronting people on closely personal beliefs.