When I was younger I had my religion phase.
I was a hardcore evangelic Christian, and my motto was, "If it isn't in the bible then it is a thing of the devil". But the problem I had was, I didn't want to deal with intermediaries. I wanted to go to the source of my devotion, God himself. But... I could never reach it on my own. There was always a prophet, a pastor, or some inspired guy wanting to tell me what God wanted me to know.
In time, I started to delude myself. I wanted to believe every sensation in my body was the work of the holy spirit, and when it wasn't true, then it was the work of the devil. Eventually, this framework didn't work for me, and I went to find other ways to find God.
Not long ago I was convinced this type of drama or problem was only a thing of religion. But then I found, hearing serious philosophical matter from a channel I recommend for you all, named actualized.org. Science is not safe from dogmatic thinking, want to think about it with me?
Remember your school days? We would read our textbooks or do exams about what we read thinking it was reality absolute. Why? because of science! but we have no clue about the research which was made, or how it was made to ensure the validity of what is written.
Going deeper I realized there were ways to fool the public opinion using science! using deceiving terminology of "May be an indicator (Just 1% chance)" and others, you could create a fuzz, with the help of course, of the media, always hungry for clicks. You can do a whole lot of research about sugary foods and then conclude it was not conclusive the idea that refined sugar was responsible for diabetes. Then you scroll a little down and you find the sponsors of the research. Coca-Cola, Nestle. Yes! It is possible, and people do it. Why? Because it is convenient.
I would like to take the problem of the "flat-earth" idea. I know, I know, it is a widespread notion that the earth is round. But do you know for sure? If you look at the horizon there's a little curve, but so little. It would seem that is flat all the way ahead. Do you think most of the people criticizing those who believe in the flat earth actually did proper research to be sure about their statement? I am sure they didn't.
Are you capable of paying thousands of dollars to go to space and find out? I know I won't! You might say, there are satellite images. But do you know for sure? The average human doesn't know for sure whatever is outside the atmosphere! Still... you know what is it that makes us so sure there are planets, blackholes, asteroids...? Yes... faith!.
I am sure in the Middle Ages when someone said (as it happened with Copernicus) that the earth wasn't the center of the universe, they would all laugh at him and nearly kill him. Obviously, since the bible explains the devotion of God towards mankind, it is absurd to believe something else would be the center of creation. Why? Because that was the "common sense" of the time.
You see academia, and there's a lot of conflict of interest. People, whose jobs to feed their own families depend on science... do you think they would dare to challenge the scientific method? They would be excomulgated from academia! And surely, their making of living would be in peril.
Conclusion
You might wonder what is my point saying all of this to you. The takeaway is not to take ANYTHING too seriously. These days, people want to feel superior to anyone else by defending beliefs, dogma, and even race. Online discussions are filled with ad hominems, and the reasoning seems to be in a very long vacation as soon as insults fly as if the truth needs defendors.
By all means we must teach what we know it works. I have tested many psychology concepts with myself, for instance, and that's why I speak and even preach about them, specially in Hive, but I always have in mind that what worked for me perhaps wouldn't work on another so I always point that out. In my experience, you can always trust in a philosophy who doesn't take itself too seriously.
It is always convenient to align oneself with the popular belief of the time, which is why it's such a touchy subject, and dogmatic thinking appears. You make the belief part of your personal identity to become part of a larger tribe which is why it's the origin of so many uncontrollable emotional reactions! It's a thing of awe to witness it in oneself and better yet to compare it to the times when I was a hardcore Christian... it feels exactly the same!
Images from pixabay and owned
