America’s Addiction to Belief and Rejection of Rationale

[BridgeTheGap]

Brian Trent is fed up with the moon landing conspiracy theorists, Obama birth certificate deniers, and natural selection naysayers. In his article appearing in the July issue of The Humanist, Trent laments how Americans “have come to be belief’s poster children. Reactionary, emotional, and almost blissfully willing to ignore facts if they contradict a cemented position.”

According to Trent, we have evolved (or devolved, I guess) into a “culture that thrives on the false principle that ‘all opinions are equal,’ even those without a shred of factual data, documentation, or reasoned methodology.”

The oftentimes scathing tone of the article exemplifies the frustration and astonishment many people experience when faced with certain demoralizing statistics, including that “20 percent of the American people believe NASA faked the Apollo moon landings” and “half of the population believes the world was made in six days.”

Lumping creationists in with members of the 9-11 “Truth Movement” is certainly a bold move, and one that some religious individuals would undoubtedly object to, but Trent tackles this thorny issue with dexterity:

http://www.utne.com/blogs/blog.aspx?blogid=28&tag=philosophy

[thetonka]

1. Best comment in the article

"“A conservative can wake up in the morning and never have his or her views challenged. And the same is true for liberals,” said none other than MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough in a Newsweek interview last summer. “It’s just stunning to me how difficult it is to have a political conversation with adults. It’s very disturbing to me as someone fired upon by the left and right pretty regularly… Where is the rational middle?”"

People in this country have given into irrational belief and isolate themselves in myopic little worlds that insulate them from contradictory views and information.

The DU is actually a very good example of this. The conservatives are not the only ones guilty of this irrational belief behavior.

[Moostache]

2. AHHHH!!!! WE FOUND A WITCH (^^^^) MAY WE BURN HER????? ;)

Truth is often the first victim of belief. That which does not fit the meme must be discredited lest it fester and tempt the unwashed into straying from the orthodoxy!

[immoderate]

4. Where are you going with this?

Sometimes there is no rational middle. And sometimes the most rational solutions are not offered as a choice. That accounts for some.

What do you mean? For most DUers, I think their politics are rational. OTOH, I acknowledge that if you peruse the groups you can certainly find irrational beliefs in some circles. Somewhat unfair, as each of us has a unique set of beliefs, according to their world view.

--imm

[groovedaddy]

3. The True Believer by Eric Hoffer pretty much nailed it years ago.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_True_Believer