Rigid Beliefs
Alexander Liss
Normal thinking includes assumptions,
logical conclusions, checking these conclusions against experience, reexamining
assumptions and so on. When someone sets bounds on reexamination of
assumptions, one creates theories conflicting reality.
While the pitfall is obvious, such bounds
are often set by a person, who does not want to face an unpleasant reality, by
a society, which uses such bounds to maintain a particular way of life, etc.
These dangerous bounds are Rigid Beliefs.
Flexible beliefs are a normal instrument of thinking and communication; when
some of their modifications are forbidden, then they become dangerous. The
bounds to modification of beliefs are the essence of the problem.
The problem is well understood. There are
special mechanisms set to prevent Rigid Beliefs.
The ability to shakeup assumptions is a
main property of a reasonable thinking, and the scientific community perpetually
reexamines its assumptions, while it rarely finds a need to change them.
Articles of Faith suppose to help a person
or a society to transcend limitations of logic: they carry internal logical
contradiction and they contradict experience by design. Hence, they cannot be used
in logical decision making process, and they should not become Rigid Beliefs.
However, even people of science and people
of Faith form Rigid Beliefs and fight over them. This shows how difficult the
problem is.
The example is a clash between an evolution
theory and a creation theory of an origin of the mankind.
From a scientific point of view, the
evolution theory is a set of theories. Some, applied to bacteria, insects and
so on, is a well accepted working instrument of science. Others, which describe
changes over very long periods of time, are interesting theories, because they
allow a uniform description of various facts, but they obviously lack factual
support. Third should be called hypothesis, because they are too controversial
and do not take in consideration some important factors. Such is the theory of
the origin of mankind, because it does not take in consideration the social
side of mankind.
The evolution theory of the origin of
mankind appeared as an affront to dominant religious views of its time. It
could be an interesting scientific hypothesis, which in time grows into a
scientific theory. Unfortunately, it appeared as a Rigid Belief masquerading as
a scientific theory. As a Rigid Belief, it was incorporated into an ideology of
communism and into ideologies of early capitalism (survival of fittest). Both
ideologies caused inhumane behavior. The very fact of such incorporation shows
that this is not a scientific theory.
The popular creation theory of origin of
mankind with a few thousand years timeline presented as a history is a Rigid
Belief, which contradicts the very idea of the text, on which it claims to
rely. This text teaches how to avoid Rigid Beliefs.
The
creation theory of origin of mankind appeared in particular religious circles
in spite of clear warning throughout millennia, that the few words of the text,
on which this theory relies, allow various interpretations, and all these
interpretations are not trivial. The timeline derived from the same text does
not have a simple interpretation, because this text does not provide
chronology.
Note,
that the same theory, presented as a symbolic presentation and not as a
history, could improve understanding of the mankind.
This shows how Rigid Beliefs arise in spite
of a mechanism designed to prevent them. No wonder, that outside such
mechanism, they are a common place.
Rigid Beliefs are dangerous. Their essence
is an arbitrary limitation on analysis of assumptions of a theory. Removal of
these limitations should be a goal of any sane person and any sane society.
However, this is a difficult task. Rigid Beliefs are stable ideas, they
survived various random challenges and they are interlinked with various
interests. Hence, operations of removal of these limitations should be planned
and properly executed.