Our Beliefs Are Not Isolated Pieces of Data That We Can Take and Discard at Will Steven Sloman

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Our beliefs are not isolated pieces of data that we can take and discard at will.

Instead, beliefs are deeply intertwined with other beliefs, shared cultural values, and our identities.

To discard a belief means discarding a whole host of other beliefs, forsaking our communities, going against those we trust and love, and in short, challenging our identities.

According to this view, is it any wonder that providing people with a little information about GMOs, vaccines, or global warming have little impact on their beliefs and attitudes?

The power that culture has over cognition just swamps these attempts at education.

Credit: Steven Sloman

Source: The Knowledge Illusion (Page 160, hardback edition)

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  •  Belief Systems   Our beliefs are not isolated pieces of data that we can take and discard at will
Tags: beliefs (66) | cognition (13) | culture (24) | Steven Sloman (7) | values (35)

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