The most dangerous thing in the world is the unwavering belief that you're right. This is different from thinking you're right because there is a world of difference between thinking and believing. Thinking involves logic and reason while belief belongs solely within the realm of faith, and faith is a most dangerous thing when left unchecked. This has been on my mind for a while but what finally made me realize that "importance of being right" was the most dangerous of belief was, of all things, an interview on MTV with a semi-political punk band.They got all enraged about religion and were making grandiose claims and rabble-rousing. They sounded, whether ironic or not, like the exact thing they were yelling against. And it was slightly scary.
I have no thoughts or theories on how to combat this. All I know is that it's something that strikes fear in my heart. Politics and Religion are steeped in this shit. Don't know what to do except to be mindful of my thoughts and words, taking care to never cross the line from discussing ideas to arguing beliefs.
This idea isn't well thought out here; this is just a spring board for me to continue this sometime later.
2 comments:
what about faith in reason?
Unfortunately, the rational and the irrational are inextricably intertwined. Logic simply juggles beliefs. In language a belief can easily be identified by the word "is" or "causes". So you can imagine how many beliefs are in operation in just a simple bit of communication! Interestingly, the strength of a belief is at a higher level of abstraction than the idea presented in the belief. By that I mean that we apply the emotion of "certainty" to a belief and so the "certainty" is ABOUT the belief and hence more abstract. If the certainty is high, someone will not allow adaption of the underlying belief. The lower the "certainty" the more they will be willing to incorporate other ideas there. This is why arguing with a fundamentalist is going to be frustrating if you only go for the apparent belief. However, if you can undermine the "certainty" first then they will be willing to take on new ideas. Now, we all have fundamental beliefs, as they help us survive. For instance, if you did not feel "certain" that the sun will come up tomorrow, you would probably live a very different today and not be very productive. It is these "certainties" that we juggle with "logic". Logic takes our "assumptions" and builds more beliefs from them. We get an uncomfortable "feeling" when these are inconsistent which makes us "doubt" our "logic". You cannot separate logic from emotion.
There are many useful techniques for challenging, dismantling and rebuilding belief systems. I would recommend a few books if you are interested in practical ways - "sleight of mouth" by Robert Dilts, "six blind elephants" Vols 1 & 2 by Steve Andreas. An interesting and fun read but less practical technique-wise is "Why people believe weird things" by Michael Shermer and "Irrationality"
by Stuart Sutherland.
I personally relish undermining peoples beliefs when I think they are unhelpful to people. Someone told me the other day that they have nothing but doubts, so I said "Are you sure about that?" and they replied "Absolutely!" in a very certain manner!.. So absurd isn't it?.. They didn't even notice because of their certainty.. Theres not room or time to tell you what came next!
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