I often wonder how people who never test their hypotheses become believers. Do they realize that their assertions are based on unproven and untested thoughts. I won’t call them possibilities, because they are unwilling to take part in the requisite work of gathering as much real and verifiable data as necessary.
So why do ‘believers’ become convinced of that of which they cannot prove? Social sciences have a number of theories that have much to do with cognitive dissonance, groupthink and social distancing, but I’m not sure that in itself, such theories are the only answer. It begs the question, is nature or nurture part of the answer. I find that those who choose to believe, have either been indoctrinated or ‘have a need’ to be.
But why is this the case? Is it due to the world being as chaotic and dangerous as it apparently is? Do people cling to belief simply because they have no ability, (or feel they don’t) to influence their situation? Is hope insufficient, simply because action is not part of the equation?
I’m not sure that there is one answer. People seek affinity and like-mindedness. One only need examine the current political discourse, or lack of it, to see, empirically how people are incapable and unwilling to examine facts and reach determinations based on science or logic. It is much easier to be one of the madding crowd. There one can find solace in company and never need analyze one’s opinion.
Whether religion, conspiracy theories, or simply confirmed ignorance, those who will not examine their reasoning become targets for charlatans, pathological liars, autocrats and kleptocrats. And so it is today, throughout the western world. People are not willing to do the work of ‘being informed’. It is much easier to listen to a 15 second sound bite than it is to gather data at the source, analyze it and reach a determination as to whether it is fact or fiction.
Not since news agencies became news agencies has so much of the public been misinformed by political and social echo chambers. It used to be the purview of news agencies to seek the truth and tell it, as well as illustrating how those that do not are undermining the value of information that cannot be said to be knowledge.
I find it sad that today, one cannot assume anything. Everything is spun so that discovering the truth has become the responsibility of the individual. The problem is that for most of us, we have neither the time or the means to verify the truth, because we have not seen the event with our eyes and assimilated the facts.
Faith, should be about belief, about knowledge as fact, but today the word is a misnomer. There are no facts in belief. In fact, (no pun intended) the word belief today simply suggests that no ‘facts’ are necessary. For many, the words faith and belief are used interchangeably, yet fail the test of affirmation through testing, or proof.
Hope, is about a future state, yet based on today’s lack of ‘belief’ in facts, leads to erroneous assumptions that indeed imperil the future. It has allowed hope to become synonymous with ignorance. It has all the value of a prayer. For one to actually be hopeful, one must have proof that actions being taken that impact one’s future actually are based on facts, – that those actions have merit.
We live in a surreal world today, where science is treated as fiction, and lies are treated as facts. News networks (and I use that term very loosely) don’t base their reporting on facts but on the self-interest of the in-groups that they want to influence. Climate change, are you kidding me? We’ve always had weather? Facts that don’t affirm a ‘position’ become either irrelevant to the echo chamber or a target to destroy. Climate change is a good point of examination. Thousands of articles, peer reviewed theses, journal reports and studies prove empirically that climate change is a reality. Almost all scientists in the act of discovery agree, by 99% to 1%, that climate change is real and verifiable, irrespective of the scientific arena.
Yet, the ignorant will continue to ‘believe’ without facts, their position. Until the costs of ignorance outweigh its social benefit or imperil their lives, climate science deniers will remain.
One example of where and how belief will become undermined, is how climate change is impacting those living in locales where the effects of climate change are profoundly changing the lives of those who deny its existence. Floridians, North Carolinians, Louisianan’s, and others cannot ignore that fact that insurance companies are beginning to base a client’s ability to purchase insurance on the basis of scientific risk.
When one cannot build or insure a home in a location where the empirical facts suggest it will be seriously damaged or destroyed by climate change, those denying its existence will butt up against reality.
I know four Canadian retirees who are selling their American property, either in Florida or Texas, as they can no longer either get insurance for said property, or the costs are stratospheric. And for those who don’t believe? The costs for denial will simply supersede their willingness to believe. The same is true for those living in communities where wild-land fires have become the norm. Unless built to a standard that makes construction very expensive, and where all necessary measures to protect the property or building from the ravages of fire on the landscape are taken, insurance is either very expensive or unavailable.
Demographics will shift as climate refugees become more normative, whether from remote countries or within countries. Farming and ranching become more difficult, costly and unstable as the weather impacts growing cycles, drought, floods and the growth of pests and agricultural diseases. Some countries are simply hollowing out, as the climate has changed so abruptly as to be uninhabitable.
Belief will become irresponsible. Hope will require an investment in action rather than simply a statement of one’s beliefs.
It is one of the reasons why I have less hope for the future. The facts are such, and the inaction so prevalent, that hope is a failure in one’s ability to be cogent.
Leave a Reply