Re: Make Believe Beliefs
Anders Sandberg (nv91-asa@nada.kth.se)
Thu, 6 Feb 1997 22:33:39 +0100 (MET)
I think far too many people pretend beliefs they do not have in order to
fit in. The worst thing isn't the hypocricy (quite often it is necessary
in order to remain in the group) but the fact that make believe beliefs
tend to rub off. We tend to start to believe in what we say, regardless
of what we say.
How to deal with this? Being more open about what we think will cause
more friction, and in some cases might even be counterproductive, but in
the long run I think it is healthier to decrease the dissonance between
what we really think and what we say we think. It also promotes others to
be more open, if they know you can tolerate their divergent opinions.