"People would rather believe than know." -- E.O. Wilson
Wise Words on HUMAN NATURE
Beliefs are soft and comfortable. We can believe … anything.
We create belief systems that align us with our tribe and make us feel good and safe and smart and righteous.
Science (a methodology for discovering what is true) is hard and unforgiving. It doesn’t care about our feelings. It is like a big bright red flashing “NO” to most of our cherished beliefs and assumptions. Within the conventions of science, if we want to know whether something is true, we need to do the hard work of proving it’s true.
Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn’t go away. — Philip K. Dick
Science harshly reminds us that most of what we believe to be true is, and has always been, wrong. Discovering that what we believe is wrong is upsetting, so most people would rather believe than know.
good and safe and smart and righteous.
Oh, this is so chastening. As a vegan I identify utterly with these words...
Daniel Patrick Moynahan, late Democratic senator from New York once said "You are entitled to your own opinions. You are not entitled to your own facts." In the past, as a scientist, I always puzzled over human behavior (including my own) and wondered why it is so frequently irrational. It seems, perhaps, that irrationality. or at least the absence of rationality was a human survival trait. Perhaps long ago our genes posed the question: "What is more important? To hold the same beliefs as the rest of our tribe and thereby ensure security against threats like the wolf at the door or the new caveman with a bigger club? Or, discover and reveal the facts that overthrow the beliefs of one's tribe?" Clearly, we opted for security over truth and this served us well for millenia.
Now, in our industrial/post industrial age, where it is difficult if not impossible to identify with a tribe, our survival no longer depends on holding a set of beliefs that support the tribe. In fact, simple belief without rational understanding , achieved in part through scientific inquiry, is detrimental to our survival. For example, if we collectively hold the unproven belief that our practice of burning vast quantities of hydrocarbons does not impact our long term survival, then we are doomed. I think that our genes and the behaviors they promote are no longer helping us. But, our ability to adapt and evolve in response to our actions is very limited.