on ignoring science & philosophy

[sophiaserpentia]

So I've seen headlines recently on "the science of ignoring science," but really, this is a very simple question. For anything that does not affect day to day life it is easy to repeat whatever you want to yourself. Getting food in your stomach before sundown or passing on your genes does not depend on whether the earth is flat or round or whether the earth is four billion years old or six thousand years old.

Comments

[legolastn.livejournal.com]

Well, yes, to the extent believing many scientific facts is irrelevant or at least not directly relevant to most people's day to day survival.

But then the question remains, why are some people committed to believing the earth is flat (or at least espousing that view) and other people committed to believing the earth is round, even though it has no direct bearing on either of their day to day lives in terms of their survival? I think the answer to this question is that it turns out these beliefs do have a relationship with everyday life indirectly related to survival in the sense that they are related to things like likelihood of support, opportunity, and advancement. For example:
* Who you consider to be your in-group(s) and/or reference group(s) (and/or who considers you to be part of their in-group and/or reference group)
* What beliefs demonstrate you have cultural capital in the social circles you travel
* What beliefs, when expressed, result in material and non-material rewards or penalties

[sophiaserpentia.livejournal.com]

If anything, group membership and self-identity with a group provide a tangible enough benefit to create positive resistance against bringing someone to the point of questioning the beliefs they profess.

[legolastn.livejournal.com]

Yes, exactly. It can even be strong enough to cause someone to at least profess a particular belief even if they previously "believed in science" or otherwise intellectually find the scientific evidence compelling.