Beliefs Conform To Cultural Identities

DallasMay writes "This article describes an experiment that demonstrates that people don't put as much weight on facts as they do their own belief about how the world is supposed to work. From the article: 'In one experiment, Braman queried subjects about something unfamiliar to them: nanotechnology — new research into tiny, molecule-sized objects that could lead to novel products. "These two groups start to polarize as soon as you start to describe some of the potential benefits and harms," Braman says. The individualists tended to like nanotechnology. The communitarians generally viewed it as dangerous. Both groups made their decisions based on the same information. "It doesn't matter whether you show them negative or positive information, they reject the information that is contrary to what they would like to believe, and they glom onto the positive information," Braman says.'"

Comments

Re:A partial solution:

[BJ_Covert_Action]

In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted

This was always something that bugged me about my faith back when I was a practicing Christian (don't ask me what I am now, I couldn't tell you if I tried). There was always a self-righteous pleasure that Christians seemed to take in being persecuted. If someone called them stupid or illogical, there would be this knowing little smirk that dawned on their face, like they had just caught a glimpse up a girl's skirt. This mindset always seemed decidedly masochistic, in some ways. "Oh, so you want to hurt me? Go ahead, I will revel in it." That attitude always walked hand in hand with the turn-the-other-cheek and love-your-enemies mentalities. Occasionally, it results in a smugness,a sort of, "Why, yes, I AM stupid aren't I? You are so wise to notice!" It might even be called sanctimonious.

When I pieced that together with the ideal that pride is a sin, things kind of made more sense. It's as if the Christian faith feeds off of its own members' self-destruction. The saddest part of it all is that, in the end, I watched that mindset destroy the self-respect and dignity many of my Christian friends. They roam the Earth as hollow shells of their former selves, discussing how content they are to be living a life for God, with almost no head paid towards the very temple that He gave them (see the discussion in the Bible regarding the body as a temple).

That's one of the many reasons I had to walk away from that religion. Watching it destroy the hearts and minds of those I loved, watching those I loved destroy their own hearts and minds in piousness to God, it became nauseating.

Re:A partial solution:

[BJ_Covert_Action]

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, by Robert Pirsig, has some interesting (and very rational) discussions about the trappings of rationalism. He asserts (to a great depth of which I cannot appropriately emulate in a single slashdot comment) that rationalism is an incomplete, though not wrong, mindset with which to view the entirety of reality (or existence or whatever). Viewed from that statement, rationality could be seen as one, 'fringe,' subset to the generalized set (which Pirsig asserts is Quality). Granted, it would be a rather large fringe element, as it is directly subservient to Quality, and thus a very broad subset, but it is still a subset and still, therefore, only part of a larger picture.

As for anti-dogmatism, I think that particular ism is an existing hypocrisy. I have met anti-dogmatists who, by all consistent interpretations of what they preach, should kill themselves and their followers. The attitude in general makes for a remarkably amusing self-satire. Nonetheless, I would assert that, yes, anti-dogmatism is, in and of itself, dogmatic and fringey.