On Cognitive Bias and Intellectual Scrutiny
I must qualify this entry by disclosing to the reader that this essay was borne out of a discussion with a young man in which he claimed he was supportive of a gay person’s pursuit of happiness, but not their pursuit of rights (or of LGBT), because ‘man was meant for woman, and gays are mentally disturbed.’ He felt that since some scientists or psychologists support this notion, just as some support creationism, that he was justified in holding his opinions. The young man, at the very least, calls himself a Naturalist — a view which he can’t have explored to its fullest, if he sees himself as anti-LGBT.
As social human beings, we are attuned to making judgments about the every day world. We assess all of life that is around us — and it is also, in our nature, to pass down those assessments onto our children as we raise them.
Because we are such a fragile species — after all, we aren’t born knowing all that we need to know, and ready to run from a predator just minutes after being born — we have to rely with complete trust, on the information provided us by our caregivers. Else we die. Simple as that. We cannot feed or clothe ourselves, nor do we know about the dangers lurking round the corner.
This can be both, a boon, and a handicap — as you might guess. Lots of knowledge gets passed down, but also lots of nonsense. For when ancient man made its mind up about certain ideas, it passed on those ideas to its children; ideas to which we become intrinsically attached.
The nature of this attachment makes these ideas difficult to scrutinize. Taking a moment to stop and analyze those ideas, and realize they are without merit or form, can be painful. This is what is known as a cognitive bias. A bias you were either predisposed with, or raised with, so that now, seeing new patterns, or learning new information that would destroy that bias, can be emotionally difficult — if not, impossible, in some circumstances.
Things that fall under such a cognitive bias, may include, but are not limited to: racial attitudes, ideologies, religious beliefs, superstitions, distrusts, old wives tales, etc.
We never want to believe that we were taught something misguided by our caregivers, or by our community. So we emotionally latch on to these notions — and we desperately seek to defend them.
There are a LOT of errors in logical thinking (or logical fallacies) which people often commit, in an attempt to defend such cognitive biases, or prejudices. These may include, but are not limited to: personal incredulity (it seems unlikely to me, so I cannot believe it); popularity bias (a majority of people think this way, so it must be true); expert opinion bias (some experts think this way, or the majority of experts think this way, so it must be true); citing bad science (some studies have shown this to be the case, never mind that they do not meet proper design criteria); etc.
Here’s what you need to know:
— Science is a method, and not a belief system. Science is not concerned with anyone’s beliefs, but with facts, observation, methodology, and peer review.
— The goal of science ISN’T to validate your pre-formed beliefs, but to actually help you form educated beliefs, based on evidence. In other words, the goal of science isn’t to inject beliefs into whatever you science, but to insert science, into whatever you believe, therefore shedding away any false information, as you grow upon the evidence.
Though the opinions of some people are weightier than others, because they might be accredited to work in some fields — this, alone, is not authority to validate something. That some scientists believe gays are mentally disturbed, or that creationism is a thing, does NOT mean those scientists have the facts on their side, nor that they are performing science correctly. If they seek to use science to validate their beliefs, they are doing science wrong. One does not put the cart before the horse when one does science. One does not start with the conclusions, and then go hunt for data to retrofit to the premises.
Perhaps this is the point where I should remind the reader that there have been scientists, and doctors, all who have firmly believed that the black man was genetically inferior to the white man. And they all claimed to have science behind them.
So, then… It is not merely enough to be a scientist, or a person of authority — one must have facts, proper methodology, proper studies, and peer review, on one’s side, in order to have standing. If many of my readers actually bothered to research the origins of much of the things they believe (and take for granted), there would be a mass exodus of many industries, including some religions and alternative medicine.
But I digress.
If your reasoning for believing homosexual individuals are mentally unsound is because you are personally incredulous of the contrary, and because a handful of scientists, or psychologists might believe this… then you are grasping at straws in order to try to keep your own prejudices alive. Simply stated, your incredulity — plus the validation of some mediocre practitioners of some professions — does NOT infuse life into your inherited cognitive bias.
IT DOES NOT.
After all, ancient man was incredulous that storms weren’t caused by demons, or gods of evil. And while I’d like to believe most of us know better, these days, according to certain religious figures, gays cause “God” to send us hurricanes. And this is exactly how ridiculous we sound when we try to justify our debasing of the LGBT community, by claiming they are mentally disturbed.
But now, it is time to grow up. It is time to put away the childish ideas of our species. It is time to STOP owning the cognitive biases of our predecessors, and start OWNING our own thinking, and taking responsibility for the things we believe, and the things we take for granted.
I am not perfect at this. No person is. But we owe it to ourselves, and our kids, to teach ourselves HOW to think, so we can know what to think.
This is NOT a matter of respecting anyone’s beliefs. Our ignorance is NOT respectable.
To quote Issac Asimov:
“There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there always has been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that “my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.””
Our ignorance is not now, nor will it ever be, just as good as anyone’s knowledge. We CANNOT declare “it’s my opinion,” or “they are my beliefs,” and simply demand respect for them. Our right to hold beliefs does not automatically translate into having a seat at the table with facts and knowledge. When we shut our eyes and ears, and declare “it’s my opinion,” what we are actually saying is “I am choosing to believe this, whether it is true or not.”
So, choose today, to embrace the COURAGE of intellectual scrutiny, honesty, and peer review. Challenge your biases. It is the ONLY way we can move forward as humanity. You will be a much happier, empathetic, and reciprocal human being. And you can bank on that.
