Why believing in falsehoods is wrong

It is so frustrating to me, and to the “enemy of the people” that the press has been falsely dubbed, that simple facts have become a thing of the past. Falsehoods are spewed about at all levels in our society, from the lowest to the highest, and are instantly accepted by the credulous. Many don’t even bother to read past a specious headline. If they see it, and especially if someone in their tribe says it, they believe it.

It turns out this is not a new concern. A philosopher named Willian Kingdon Clifford wrote a piece about it called “The Ethics of Belief.” You very likely haven’t heard of him since his writings were nearly two centuries ago, but the beliefs he asserts of what damage can be done to society if people acceptingly embrace so-called facts without challenging them basically assert that they can bring down our social mores and even our ability to interact.

There’s a fascinating article about him on Aeon. Here’s my favorite paragraph:

“What we believe is then of tremendous practical importance. False beliefs about physical or social facts lead us into poor habits of action that in the most extreme cases could threaten our survival. If the singer R Kelly genuinely believed the words of his song ‘I Believe I Can Fly’ (1996), I can guarantee you he would not be around by now.”

You can find the rest of the article here

PAD