Fear of learning

[robvalue]

It is well known that people can have a tendency to seek out things that reinforce their beliefs, and ignore or avoid things that go against their beliefs. Even the most logical of us has probably been guilty of this, maybe without even realising it, to some degree.

I've been thinking about this, and I realized this could account for what appears to be fear of learning. If someone reaches a position where they are comfortable with their beliefs, and especially where they have been living by those beliefs for a long time, there is a big emotional incentive to actively avoid situations which may seriously challenge those beliefs.

The example we often see is evolution. Although some religious people find a way to combine evolution with their mythology, for many people, accepting evolution would be a mighty blow to their beliefs. I think such people worry that if they start properly researching evolution, there is a chance they could become convinced it is true. Whereas if they keep the hell away from reliable sources, they can keep their beliefs going. We see it constantly on this forum. People will spend hours and hours writing shit about evolution here, but it's clear they have not spent one minute looking at a science book first. People also often accept other areas of science without any sort of fight, but put up massive barriers against evolution.

Here is the crucial part: I think it's possible that this fear gets rationalised in the mind (perhaps without the person even being aware) by the idea that such material isn't worth looking at because it will be wrong. I say this because I noticed myself doing it recently. I was looking for evidence for something, and I had an emotional response to articles that may challenge the belief I was trying to reinforce. My explanation to myself, at the time, was that they were wrong. Not worth reading. But looking back, it was really fear. I was scared my beliefs would change, or at least be seriously challenged.

If someone as anal and self-proclaimed sceptical as me can be guilty of it, I can't imagine how much more powerful this emotional force would be for a fundamental belief that has been held for an entire lifetime.

It brings us back to the same question: do you care about what is true, or about what is comfortable? In the above situation, clearly I cared more about what was comfortable. I recognise that, and I will attempt to rectify this behaviour in the future should I notice it happening again.

If you really do care about what is true, there should be no fear of learning or researching. How honest we are with ourselves about this is what is in question. Clearly, I have not been being totally honest with myself.