The Things That Compel Irrational Belief

I think you have to start with what logical thinking is and how we come by any thoughts on anything and everything.  I think the 3 sources are either through reading it somewhere, being told by someone else or first-hand experience.  First hand experience is the most compelling. If it is repetitive, the exact same results each time, we feel that confirms that our view of something is correct. We see the sun come up every morning in the east so we believe the sun will continue to do that every day until the Earth is destroyed. A twisted version of that would be the person who experiences that the Earth is flat.  They conclude it is flat because they never experience the curvature of it. Their firsthand experience compels them to believe the Earth is not a globe.  Now the ancient people who had no means to go up into space and see the globe were able to determine that the Earth was round through observation.  They noticed that smoke could be seen above the horizon without actually seeing the source, the fire.  Through experiments and calculations to determine the size of the Earth the ancient Greeks had it narrowed down pretty damn close.  Observational views of reality are subject to intepretation in this way and our confirmation of the truth of them comes from a consensus of opinion.  With a few exceptions we agree that the Earth is a globe and even agree on how big it is and if we are skeptical and determined we really can verify it for ourselves.

The other way we obtain a view of the world is by reading about it. If you have reliable sources you can read good information and then get a good understanding that can be confirmed through your experience. "Yeah, that is indeed how the world works."  So you come to the conclusion that the view given in a textbook or some other reading material is actually correct.  The same holds true for being told by someone else.  This, again, goes back to whether or not the person is a reliable source. Do you trust what this person says to be true? This is where we get into serious dogmatic thinking most easily because the person has charisma, salesmanship or authority.  These are most effective in person.  When we are children most adults are a source of authority.  For the most part we believe that adults do know what they're talking about.  If the adult in question is in a uniform or fancy clothes or wearing glasses and looks to be incredibly smart we take their word for it. 

At some point in this process gullibility, credulity and intelligence are going to be a factor.  Some people are just more gullible or more easily swayed to believe things that can't possibly be true or make logical sense.  Intelligence seems to be a factor in it, however, people with demonstrably high IQs can also be gullible.  As a general rule I would believe that higher intelligence and a better education make folks less gullible.  People who have been taught how to think critically are more likely to spot the flaws in magical or incorrect thinking, to see if things pass a litmus test, so to speak.  So let's go back to what we were taught as children where we are the most gullible because our brains haven't developed and our logic circuits aren't fully in place.  We are surrounded by people we have to look to for explanations and for authority. Let's start with belief in Santa Claus.  We are told that this magical being exists and at Christmas time he will visit us and give us gifts.  We wake up in the morning and there are presents labeled from Santa.  Nothing wrong with that.  It's fun and it's cute and no harm done.  Eventually you find out mom and dad are Santa and it was a game.  But now those same people tell you that you were created by another magical being and you need to go to church and these guys in dresses are going to fill you in on the rest and the guys in dresses seem to be authority figures and you are given an entire line of bullshit.  You are then expected to believe for the rest of your life because it's going to ensure that you actually have a good afterlife. The first magical guy was pretend but this one is real.  They are people of authority and you believe it.  Somehow it makes sense to them and they explain it to you in ways that your childish mind finds plausible and you accept it.  Later on in life you become more logical and aspects of this start to just not make any sense and you start to question but still cling to this.  This is the question.  Why do we dogmatically cling to things that don't make sense and run up against all logic? When our examination of it makes it fall apart and yet we still refuse to let go what compels this?

I'm going to refer back to my sliding scale of belief, as I call it.  We do not objectively know anything.  We simply believe everything to one degree or another.   Starting on one side with what we idealize as objective reality but is in fact just our undeniable belief that those things are true.  If I slam my hand into a brick wall it is going to hurt because the brick wall is always the same and my hand is always the same.  So I don't do that.  Somewhere in the middle are those things that we find compelling but are not entirely certain of.  These are things we read and hear that sound right.  I'm compelled to believe that because I see plenty of evidence of it but it's not necessarily true and further evidence is needed for me to be fully on board. A little further down are things that are less evidential and/or plausible but still possible and while I doubt they are true, eh, who knows? Then there's the all the way to the other end and things that I just find unacceptable to believe. There is no compelling evidence, no good, logical reason to believe them so they are dismissed as nonsense.  Things like there's a place called Hell and a place called Heaven and if I believe properly and I'm good then when I die I go to Heaven but if I don't I go to Hell and it's for all eternity because somehow or other I'm an eternal being. This falls at the far end far away from objective reality.  So everybody places everything they believe on their own sliding scale.  For some this latter belief is much closer to the undeniable end of their scale.  To me this is problematic.  It doesn't belong there...ever.

Here is the rub. That thing which, in spite of any evidence or in spite of having no personal experience with it to compel belief, can't be shaken.  People say, "Well it is just what I believe" and when I ask them why they will often tell me that they don't know.  If they do try to explain it they go off into illogic, heresay and conspiracy theory, false facts that have been debunked, and BS evidence.  That makes my brain hurt.  "I take it on faith.", is another one.  They don't ever analyze why they do that and if I press them for such analysis they are likely to become angry with me.  They don't want to look and they don't want to analyze because then they might lose that faith, stop believing in magic and miracles and that scares them.  For some people that belief in magic and miracles and supernatural beings is how they make sense of, well, everything.  It gives their life meaning and purpose and it is almost cruel to take that away from them.  As much as I like to think that I am free of dogmatic thought and strive to be critical I am certain I have some as well.  I think we all do because we all require our reality to make sense.  They have medications and rubber rooms for people for whom it does not.  Nonetheless I am determined to speak out against religious indoctrination, fantastical thinking, dogmatic nonsense and beliefs that are illogical and just plain stupid.  I'm determined that everyone over the age of six physically and mentally realize that Santa Claus isn't real because it is not a cute little game after that.  It is sad and it can be dangerous, causing untold grief, war and oppression.  It can also just be really fucking annoying.