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immovable ideas
I was just listening to an old talk on skepticism from a 2008 episode of All in the Mind, a fascinating Australian radio program about aspects of the mind. (You might like to know that programs all the way back to 2005 are available for free download from http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/allinthemind/ )
Anyway, near the end of this episode a guy said "Nobody likes being told their way of thinking is flawed, or that their most cherished beliefs are based on myth and misconception. Add to that the fact that humans tend to like absolutes -- true and false, believer and heretic -- and it's easy to see why age-old cultural beliefs often win out over science's dispassionate, objective inquiry."
This strikes me as odd. I'm always embarrassed, but relieved when I'm shown that I'm wrong about something. I much prefer to find out my mistakes so that I can fix them. Also I dislike and distrust absolutes. (I like the little joke "All sweeping statements are false." heheh )
The obsession with belief and for disregarding facts has always puzzled me. I especially find it hard to understand why people profess to know something that they can't possibly know. Do people really think that by saying it emphatically enough that they somehow alter reality to fit?
This kind of behavior becomes particularly problematic when you have a dictator forcing his countrymen not to say aloud what a horrible person he is or that they want freedom. Does the dictator really think that murdering people will make everything okay? What the hell can they be thinking?
Another example of this kind of warped thinking is when christians try to lie for Jesus. For example the evangelists who lie about their qualifications and on their tax returns. Or those rabidly homophobic christians who turn out later to be deeply closeted gays themselves. Really... what do they think they are gaining by lying?
I've heard an economist denying the results of surveys showing that poor people are more stressed than rich people. Did he think that his belief is somehow above reality?
I just don't understand this kind of thing. Surely we should be glad to find out we've been doing things the wrong way so that we can fix it and do things better. But for some reason many people think their self is somehow synonymous with their beliefs and when those beliefs are under attack they see it as a personal attack.
Weird.
Anyway, near the end of this episode a guy said "Nobody likes being told their way of thinking is flawed, or that their most cherished beliefs are based on myth and misconception. Add to that the fact that humans tend to like absolutes -- true and false, believer and heretic -- and it's easy to see why age-old cultural beliefs often win out over science's dispassionate, objective inquiry."
This strikes me as odd. I'm always embarrassed, but relieved when I'm shown that I'm wrong about something. I much prefer to find out my mistakes so that I can fix them. Also I dislike and distrust absolutes. (I like the little joke "All sweeping statements are false." heheh )
The obsession with belief and for disregarding facts has always puzzled me. I especially find it hard to understand why people profess to know something that they can't possibly know. Do people really think that by saying it emphatically enough that they somehow alter reality to fit?
This kind of behavior becomes particularly problematic when you have a dictator forcing his countrymen not to say aloud what a horrible person he is or that they want freedom. Does the dictator really think that murdering people will make everything okay? What the hell can they be thinking?
Another example of this kind of warped thinking is when christians try to lie for Jesus. For example the evangelists who lie about their qualifications and on their tax returns. Or those rabidly homophobic christians who turn out later to be deeply closeted gays themselves. Really... what do they think they are gaining by lying?
I've heard an economist denying the results of surveys showing that poor people are more stressed than rich people. Did he think that his belief is somehow above reality?
I just don't understand this kind of thing. Surely we should be glad to find out we've been doing things the wrong way so that we can fix it and do things better. But for some reason many people think their self is somehow synonymous with their beliefs and when those beliefs are under attack they see it as a personal attack.
Weird.
those good dvds
the first one is Blind Side
2 = the desert flower - devastating