Belief

I’m going to talk about beliefs that are unreasonable, that is beliefs for which there is either no evidence or even evidence they are wrong. Lets start with a rather odd example- the face on Mars. Early low resolution photos of the surface of Mars showed a feature which just possibly looked like a face. All kinds of odd theories were proposed such as this was a feature constructed by extinct Martians. Higher resolution photos showed no such face but rather a random assortment of rocks.

More serious for society is the anti vaccine claque. We can see how this arose by a supposed scientist suggesting a link between the MMR vaccine given to babies and autism. This supposed link has been amply disproved and indeed the original work was faulty. Antivax believers seem to have extended this to some other vaccines. In some primitive societies vaccines are viewed with suspicion but argument in advanced society seems to be largely based on spreading fear, uncertainty and doubt( FUD ). The problem is that for any one individual it confers immunity but if the rest of society is vaccinated then the disease, measles  in this case, is very unlikely to hit the individual. The protection often called herd immunity only applies if a sufficient proportion of the population is protected; a level often put at 95%. Due to antivaxers the level may be reduced to 80% or so at which level measles is making a dangerous comeback.

A belief with serious evidence against it is flat earth. It might be thought that photos of earth from space would be compelling but not so.. Flat earthers have set up elaborate and costly experiments such as setting up a gyroscope pointing vertically and looking at how its direction changes with time. The earth rotates so as it does so the gyroscope which stays pointing the same direction will gradually tilt in response. This it does at exactly the rate expected. At present the flat earth response is to repeat with a much more sophisticated ring laser gyroscope. However the general answer from flat earthers is to invoke some extra sensory force rather than accept the evidence.

The belief in homeopathy is easily explained. Believe in the magical cure and it will often occur. This is the very well known placebo effect. The failures are readily explained away by believers as insufficient or ineffectual belief.

Conspiracy theories abound. There is the hoary idea that UFO evidence is deliberately withheld by the government or some mysterious agency. I know someone who thinks the whole Apollo space missions were a conspiracy. Incidentally I’m not sure which came first the film about the conspiracy or the conspiracy theory inspiring the film  called, if I remember correctly, the Capricorn project. In fact I can hardly think of any major historical event which hasn’t spawned some conspiracy idea .I’m sure there are some events such as the shooting of JFK  where all the evidence hasn’t emerged but I doubt some grand conspiracy was involved.

The widespread belief in the supernatural takes on an almost religious aspect. I can’t help but be amused by the popularity of such TV programmes as “Ghosthunters” which somehow never actually find ghosts. It seems a sizeable portion of the population wants desperately to believe in ghosts and any slight anecdotal story is seized upon as “evidence”. Believers in the paranormal often sneer that rational science has never taken them seriously. I can only say that rigorous investigations have been made and there is simply nothing there.

I have deliberately left religion until last. Some hold that religion is hollow superstition with which I’m inclined to agree but without the crusading zeal of atheists  such as Richard Dawkins. I do agree that the established churches play a distinctly ambiguous role in society. They have a massive influence all too often a drag on modern morality but they have also a positive side in community efforts. What I am sure of is that religious belief is a matter of faith. This was put to me as a teenager by my vicar when the evidence was questioned. As he said it is a matter of faith, you have to choose to believe. There are times when I almost wish I believed; I observe believers tend to be happier and I wish I could join them but I can’t.

It may seem odd to put religious belief alongside other less mainstream beliefs. I do think they are comparable in that they arise from the same root. We have evolved the need to believe in something. I rather suspect that as religious belief has waned so  other beliefs are in a way a substitute. We are creatures of our evolution and our minds are not always rational.. It appears that ritual and belief has played a part in our lives as far back as we can go in time. As it was put in a scientific magazine there is a god shaped hole in our psychology which needs to be filled.