(April 6, 2018 at 5:51 pm)Jörmungandr Wrote:Quote:The core insight Burton makes in On Being Certain is this: Certainty is a feeling. There is a feeling we have when we know something. To experience this feeling for yourself Burton asks us to recall a recent tip of the tongue experience. Think of meeting someone knowing you know her name but being unable to recall it. That feeling of knowing--"I know this!"--combined with a lack of content (being unable to recall the name) nicely separates the content of knowledge (the name) from the feeling of knowing (the feeling inherent in the tip of the tongue experience). In short, there is a felt experience that is associated with knowing something. Or, more specifically, knowing you know something.
Burton, a neurologist, speculates that this "feeling of knowing" or the "feeling of conviction" is vital to human cognition as it provides us with a reward structure for thought. After successfully solving a problem the feeling of knowing helps signal to us that a solution has arrived. The feeling of knowing also helps us engage in mental search. If I feel I know something (like your name) I'll persist in digging into my memory to figure it out. If, however, I don't get the feeling of knowing I'll not waste any time searching for your name. A similar thing occurs when my students take tests. Sometimes they reach a question where they have a strong feeling of knowing: "I know this!" But on other questions they just draw a blank. No feeling of knowing. On those questions they just guess and move on. But it they feel that they know the answer they will linger and engage in mental search.
Beyond illuminating the phenomenological experience of conviction/knowledge, Burton's other big point is that this system is very glitchy and error prone. Specifically, once I get the feeling of knowing I may forgo any further investigation or reflection. My feeling of knowing tells me I have the answer so why sweat looking for alternatives? As a reinforcing emotion knowledge feels good, it's pleasurable. Consequently, may people stick with the pleasure of "knowing" instead of shrugging off the feeling to reenter the world of debate and argument. It takes a kind of courage to move back into uncertainty. More specifically, it takes a kind of self-overcoming, of saying "No" to yourself. "Knowing" is as pleasurable as doughnuts or ice cream and, like with other pleasures of the flesh, self-restraint and discipline may be required to move back into uncertainty. People might need a diet from certainty. How's that for a New Year's Resolution? To not be so cocksure all the time.
The point of all this is that religious dogmatism is so stubborn because we aren't dealing with rationality. We are working with an emotional system. Overtly, the conversation is about biblical texts or rational arguments. But at root what is governing the conversation is the feeling of knowing. And if the person feels they are right then quality counter-arguments just won't penetrate. The dominant emotional tone of conviction convinces the person that he is in the possession of the truth. That feeling drives the conversation.
Certainty and Dogmatism: The Feeling of Knowing
That's interesting.
Though a counterpoint that pops to mind is: How often is our sense of certainty demonstrably wrong in a "tip of the tongue" instance? When we are certain we know such-and-such's name, we are certain that it lies somewhere in our memory banks (and it usually does)... we just can't recall it immediately. As such, I think it is incorrect to characterize such a feeling as "error prone." It may be "combined with a lack of content" but only so in the same fashion that you don't know X's phone number, but it is in your phone.
What is certain, however, is that such feelings compel one to "forgo any further investigation or reflection," and that is probably key to understanding dogmatic certainty. I am reminded of when I was memorizing African countries for a geography test. I would drill myself on the answers. When I came to a country I couldn't immediately remember, I searched and searched my memory banks until I found the answer, "Botswana!" Then came that feeling of knowing--that intrinsic reward for recollection. In the same manner, religious indoctrination drills answers to cosmic questions into one's head. And simple recollection of that answer not only halts any tendency toward further investigation, it also bestows upon one the gratifying feeling of certitude.
