Why do otherwise smart people believe stupid things?

When I was a kid, I loved all manner of woo - ancient astronauts, psychic abilities, Atlantis, crystal skulls, the whole bit. Just go down the list of crazy shit in the 1970s and I pretty much believed it.

Most of us are this way. We grew up believing in God or other types of magical thinking. And it usually takes a while to divorce yourself from this junk, because it is so deeply ingrained in our culture and it is *so* appealing. Who wouldn't want an answer to their natural fear of death? Why not seek a solution to the threats of disease? Wouldn't it be cool if there really were alien visitors who were watching us, just waiting for the human race to mature enough to become citizens of a galactic civilization?

It is sometimes easy to be disdainful of those still caught in the web of woo. I know that I can be mocking, even insulting, in the things I say here. Mostly, that is an effort to shock people into thinking - to try and kick a little sense into our society, to at the very least minimize the influence of magical thinking on our laws and politics. Because I honestly believe that if we could turn our energies otherwise devoted to wishing for a better world in the afterlife to more productive ends, we could actually create a better world in the here and now.

But it is good to remember, to remind ourselves, that there are good reasons why otherwise smart people believe stupid things. Well, not 'good' reasons, actually, but understandable ones.

This morning I was browsing some of my favorite sites, and came across an otherwise fairly bland post about 'alternative medicine' over on MetaFilter. This one. But in the comments a fascinating conversation started taking place about the role of medicine, and doctors, versus those hucksters who sell miracles. And this comment in response to someone who said they had no sympathy for the victims of these scams in particular:

I have a serious disease. Along with the disease, there's a lot of fear and anxiety. That fear creates stress and worry and preoccupation, it saps my time and my will and clouds my thinking.

It's easy for me to see how people, daily faced with their own imminent death, grasp at straws and become less skeptical of the promises of charlatans and priests and hucksters.

The people being taken advantage of are just like you, but without health and consumed by fear; that makes them much more susceptible to stupid magical thinking.

At some point, if you live long enough, you'll get old enough that your body, which you once delighted in or took for granted, begins to betray you. What was once effortless will become surprisingly difficult, then daunting, then scary, then impossible.

You'll walk with a slight hunch because of your bad back, you won't as often met others' gazes because of your stiff neck, and when you do you'll betray your weakness by an essential tremor. Foods once delicious will be too spicy, triggering your acid reflux or leaving you constipated. The beers you used to enjoy will now cost you endless miserable hangovers. Your morning Starbucks pick-me-up will be abandoned because the ensuing heart palpitations are too scary. Then you'll abandon even weak tea because of your painfully inflamed fibrocystic breasts.

You'll slowly become old and tentative and fearful, and at some point you'll feel diminished, so fragile, so tired, that you'll snatch at anything, no matter how ridiculous, that promises even temporary relief.

And when you do, some youth like you are now will sneer at your feeble-minded stupidity.
posted by orthogonality at 12:03 PM on August 9 [29 favorites]

Worth considering.

Jim Downey