Denialism

Denialism is the automatic, unreasonable and stubborn refusal of evidence or arguments against a belief or fact and is a pathological extreme of status quo bias. It stems from emotional, practical or strategic benefits of holding a particular belief, and its loss would cause too much inner disruption or social disruption for its bearer₁; the fear of the personal or social repercussions prevents an honest appraisal of the belief. Examples include where beliefs have been held loudly or boastfully, involve political opinions that have been debated hotly in public, beliefs that stem from emotional or childhood events_2,1, or failures of personality where pride, ego and stubbornness cause a refusal to admit past mistakes. There are cases where denialists do not, or no longer, believe, but they continue to uphold the appearance of belief for strategic purposes; they do not truly have the desire to debate, just to assert.

The cause of the denialists' reaction is psychological or strategic, and the cure for it comes from psychological, social or situational effects. Direct argumentation is rarely effective; it's more common for the cause of the denial of reality to dissipate quietly.

1. When Dissuasion is an Impossible Task
2. Causes of Denialism
3. Denialism is not Skepticism
4. Other Thinking Errors
5. Links

1. When Dissuasion is an Impossible Task

#conspiracy_theories #denialism #psychology #thinking_errors

Its prime feature is the absolute denial of counter-evidence and counter-arguments combined with an unwillingness to properly debate and evaluate them. It is rare that someone with strong beliefs can be dissuaded if they're linked with another facet of social life such as politics₂; the emotions and ties of that belief make it almost invulnerable to logic or counter-evidence, and, attempts to engage in arguments result in angry emotional responses and a retreat even further into denialism.

“Climate change, evolution, vaccines, AIDS, the 9/11 attacks, the Holocaust - they've all attracted powerful denialist movements that, from the viewpoint of most science-oriented people, seem especially resistant to scientific evidence.”

Kendrick Frazier
Skeptical Inquirer (2011)₂

Some denialists have an opposite side: a willingness to dive into conspiracy theories, accepting maverick, outlandish and incredibly unlikely ideas for the sole purpose of protecting a cherished belief from refutation. Much of the time, denialism requires at first a failure of education in a topic, such as health, which prevents the believer from being able to tell true claims from dubious ones, leading them to come to suspect that the entire scientific establishment is wrong. But mostly, denialism is borne from social and psychological factors.

2. Causes of Denialism

1. Emotional ties of a belief, including childhood events_2,1 mean that it's simply not conceivable that the idea is wrong. After all, the majority of people keep the religion they were brought up with₃.

2. The internal ramifications of changing the belief; it can be painful to abandon a cherished and beloved belief₁ once it becomes part of one's personal identity and internal mental life.

3. The social ramifications of changing a belief that has formed part of your social display; admitting and allowing others to say "told you say" or to use the moment to taunt the ex-believer.

4. Strategic reasons include when a belief is associated with work, financial income, social status or other inputs that mean it is simply better to pretend to believe, either through genuine self-denial, or just merely for appearances. An example surely includes tobacco executives who denied the health risks of their products for many decades despite overwhelming evidence.

5. Losing the belief may result in scary or unknown consequences, including facing up to realities that it would be easier to ignore. For example, the climate change has attracted many irrational denialists₂. One of the causes is that the sacrifices required to mitigate against it include reducing personal consumption of resources, such as flying less, or recycling more diligently. The desire to continue doing those things can feed the impetus for denialism.

6. The loss of invested capital in the belief. When we put time and effort into something, we are naturally inclined to protect it. Objects of effort should not be abandoned lightly, or quickly. When this ordinary and otherwise sensible instinct is taken too far, it becomes denialism.

Note that many causes are psychological, and have psychological causes; in this case, denialism falls under the category of a thinking error₄. In other cases the cause is strategic (albeit, an annoying one), and the cure is to dismantle or reveal the underlying causal factor so that the lie cannot be maintained, or, to change the situation, so that the professed belief can evaporate without consequence.

3. Denialism is not Skepticism

#critical_thinking #denialism #epistemology #philosophy #skepticisim #Skepticism #thinking_errors

Skepticism is an approach to understanding the world where evidence, balance and rationality come first: anecdotal stories and personal experience are not automatically accepted as reliable indicators of truth. There are a great many ways in which we can come to faulty conclusions - often based on faulty perceptions - given our imperfect knowledge of the world around us₄. With practice, we can all become better thinkers through developing our critical-thinking and skeptical skills₅. Facts must be checked, especially if they contradict established and stable theories that do have evidence behind them_6,7. Thinking carefully, slowly and methodically is a proven method of coming to more sensible conclusions_8,9,10. It is difficult to change our minds openly, _11,12,13,14 but doing so when evidence requires honours the truth and encourages others. Skepticism is 'realist' in that it starts with the basic premise that there is a single absolute reality₁₅, that we can best try to understand collectively through the scientific method. Skepticism demands that truth is taken seriously, approached carefully, investigated thoroughly and checked repeatedly. Skepticism does not include disbelief in theories that are supported by good evidence, good arguments and good scientific consensus₇ (that's denialism)

For more, see:

• "What is Skepticism and Its Values?" by Vexen Crabtree (2018).

4. Other Thinking Errors

1. Cognitive and Internal Errors
   1. Pareidolia: Seeing Patterns That Aren't There
   2. Selection Bias and Confirmation Bias
   3. Blinded by the Small Picture
   4. The Forer (or Barnum) Effect
   5. We Dislike Changing Our Minds: Status Quo Bias and Cognitive Dissonance
   6. Physiological Causes of Strange Experiences
   7. Emotions: The Secret and Honest Banes of Rationalism
2. Mirrors That We Thought Were Windows
   1. Perception is Influenced By Expectation: You Can't Always Trust Your Senses
   2. What Every Lover Knows: Memory is Actively Interpreted
   3. Our Attempts to be Logical
   4. Denialism
3. Social Errors
   1. Story Telling and Second-Hand Information
   2. It's Impolite to Reject Anecdotes
   3. Traditions and Customs
   4. Expectations and Culture
   5. Sacred Truths and Dogmas (Religion)
4. The False and Conflicting Experiences of Mankind
5. Commentaries
   1. Roger Bacon (1214-1294): Four General Causes of Ignorance
   2. Francis Bacon (1561-1626): Four Idols of the Mind
6. The Prevention of Errors: Science and Skepticism