I cannot dismiss that possibility completely, but I assume that cultural inventions like scientific method and free speech are helpful—I mean, compared to living in a society that believes in horrible monsters and spirits everywhere, where interpersonal violence is the norm, and two-digit percent of males die by murder. In such society, if someone tells you “believe X, or else”, then it doesn’t matter how absurd X is, you will at least pretend that you take it seriously. (Or you die.) Even if it’s something obviously self-serving, like the leader if the tribe telling little boys that they need to suck his dick, otherwise they will not have enough male energy to grow up healthy.
These days, if you express doubts about the Emperor’s new clothes… you will likely survive. So the stupid ideas get some opposition. And I don’t know how much the Asch’s conformity experiment replicates, but it suggests that even a lonely dissent can do wonders.
Do you have a reason to dismiss them being “possibly much less” fallible?
I cannot dismiss that possibility completely, but I assume that cultural inventions like scientific method and free speech are helpful—I mean, compared to living in a society that believes in horrible monsters and spirits everywhere, where interpersonal violence is the norm, and two-digit percent of males die by murder. In such society, if someone tells you “believe X, or else”, then it doesn’t matter how absurd X is, you will at least pretend that you take it seriously. (Or you die.) Even if it’s something obviously self-serving, like the leader if the tribe telling little boys that they need to suck his dick, otherwise they will not have enough male energy to grow up healthy.
These days, if you express doubts about the Emperor’s new clothes… you will likely survive. So the stupid ideas get some opposition. And I don’t know how much the Asch’s conformity experiment replicates, but it suggests that even a lonely dissent can do wonders.