—Globe and Mail, Saturday, September 25, 2004
Are you wondering what the basis is for Ms. Mhi’s claims about drinking urine? So are we.
Acquiring Knowledge About the World
Some expectant mothers play classical music to their growing bellies because they believe this will make their babies more musically talented. Some people believe that dreams predict future events or that a broken mirror can cause 7 years of bad luck. Many people believe all sorts of things that really have no factual foundation.
Why are many people hard-pressed to give up beliefs such as these even in the face of solid evidence to the contrary? Where do these beliefs come from?
Surprisingly, and often unfortunately, we acquire many of our beliefs from flawed sources or in flawed ways.
Tradition or Tenacity: I Believe It Is True Because It Has Always Been True
Good fences make good neighbors. Our parents believed this so-called truism. So did their parents. The willingness to accept an idea as valid or as truth because it has been accepted as such for so long or because it has been heard so often is an example of a belief acquired through tradition. Psychologists have demonstrated that simply repeating an idea increases the likelihood that people will believe it (e.g., Schwartz, 1982). No proof is necessary—there is no need to check the accuracy of the idea. Indeed, little intellectual effort is required to acquire knowledge through tradition. Advertisers are well aware of this.
Accepting something as true because it has been traditionally accepted as such is a flawed way of acquiring knowledge. And many traditionally accepted truisms are in fact contradictory. Compare the adage Out of sight, out of mind with Absence makes the heart grow fonder. These truisms cannot both be correct. What about Birds of a feather flock together and Opposites attract? You can probably think of more examples. This is not to say that some traditional beliefs are not true; it is to say that we cannot know that something is true simply because it has always been thought to be true. A willingness to do so indicates intellectual laziness.
Consider the following dialogue:
“Grandpa is never going to figure out e-mail.”
“What makes you say that?”
“Everybody knows you can’t teach an old dog new tricks.”
The belief expressed in this example is supported by nothing more than tradition.
Intuition: I Believe It Is True Because I Feel It Is True
Intuitive knowledge or beliefs come to us without any direct involvement of our senses, apparently. Years ago, there was quite a flurry of interest in something called subliminal suggestion. It was thought that we could be influenced by messages sent to our unconscious mind, messages that could not be detected by our normal sensory processes. The fact that there was and still is no evidence that such a process can occur has not deterred some people from continuing to believe that it can. The idea that we can perceive things that are purported to exist outside our senses (i.e., extrasensory perception) continues to thrive today, to such an extent that some police forces have been known to consult with psychics.
Consider the following dialogue:
“Same-sex couples do not make good parents.”
“How do you know that?”
“I don’t care what anybody says; I just know it.”
The belief expressed in this example is founded on a feeling or an intuition—a belief that is not supported by any evidence.
Authority: I Believe It Is True Because an “Expert” Says It Is True
We professors hear our students make the following kinds of statements all the time: “I read that . . . ” “I heard that . . . ” “I saw somewhere that. . . . ” We often reply, “Just because you read it, heard it, or saw it doesn’t make it true.” Accepting an idea as true because it was claimed to be so by a source we respect is the method of acquiring knowledge by authority. This method of acquiring knowledge is pervasive in our world. We learn from our parents, from our teachers, from our religious leaders, and from the media.
Sometimes the authority figures from whom we acquire knowledge are good authorities, and by accepting what they tell us, we avoid having to evaluate the evidence ourselves and save ourselves an enormous amount of work. Unfortunately, often we do not discriminate between good and bad authorities. You have heard the adage Consider the source. We often don’t consider the source—sometimes we don’t even remember the source! Recall our students who heard it somewhere, read it somewhere. . . .
Consider the following dialogue:
“Women are more emotional and less rational than men.”
“How do you know that?”
“My philosophy professor said so.”
The belief expressed in this example is a belief acquired through authority. The truth of the belief depends on the credibility of the authority.
Uncritical acceptance of an idea acquired through tradition, intuition, or authority is a flawed method of acquiring knowledge. An intuitive belief that eating pizza late at night will make you dream about dying is probably not going to adversely affect your life. Likewise, not eating pork because your pastor says it is a sin or never wearing white shoes after Labor Day will have few negative consequences in the larger scheme of things. But feeding your infant nothing but eggs for the first year of her life on the advice of your meditation guru (as a relative of one of the authors of this book did) is a decision better made after a more rigorous evaluation of information. Accepting such advice on the basis of this particular authority is doubly flawed: a flawed source and a flawed process.
Personal Experience: I Believe It Is True Because I Experienced It
Personal experience is a very powerful way of knowing the world. You know something because it happened to you, and now it’s part of your personal history. This way of knowing may be convincing to you, but often it is not convincing to others.
According to the Old Testament, Noah was told by God that the world was going to end in a flood and that he should build an ark. The conversation motivated him to do as he was told but had little effect on anyone else.
Often, this way of knowing puts an end to discussion with friends and family. Usually, it goes something like this: “You don’t understand _____ like I do. I know _____ is true because it happened to me.”
Consider the following:
“I know what it’s like to be poor and homeless because I’ve lived on the street.”
“I know that divorce has a negative influence on children because I was only 10 when my parents divorced.”
“I know that talking on a phone doesn’t interfere with driving because I do it all the time, and I’ve never had an accident.”
Personal experience is very difficult to argue against and equally difficult to convey to others. It often is the basis of religious or mystic experiences. The problem with this way of knowing is that personal experience is personal and subjective. There is no way for others to make it objective. It is also a problem because there is no way of knowing if your experience is typical or usual. It could be that your experience is very rare.
Reasoning: