- #1
SixNein
Gold Member
- 122
- 20
Over the last few weeks, I have been participating in a few discussions with tea party members. Although we never came to any agreements (Apparently, I'm a liberal communist Nazi freedom-hating socialist), there was an interesting trend to our discussions. In any discussion of sufficient complexity, tea party members always took a very simplified view, and they would continue to hold their viewpoint even though a mountain of evidence was provided to counter their assertions. Some people would have contradictory claims throughout their argument, and they didn't even notice them. Obviously, there must be a scientific explanation, and there is one called cognitive closure (psychology definition).
I think much of human history has been shaped because of cognitive closure. I think cognitive closure is the perfect explanation for such widespread religious zeal in the world, and it could also explain so many wrongdoings throughout human history. For example, the attack on evolution may be caused by closure. People who need more closure feel displeasure when they are faced with uncertainty or complexity, and evolution has a bit of both. So these people turn to a more simplified explanation despite evidence for evolution.
I could go on and on and on and on.
So what are your thoughts?
I think much of human history has been shaped because of cognitive closure. I think cognitive closure is the perfect explanation for such widespread religious zeal in the world, and it could also explain so many wrongdoings throughout human history. For example, the attack on evolution may be caused by closure. People who need more closure feel displeasure when they are faced with uncertainty or complexity, and evolution has a bit of both. So these people turn to a more simplified explanation despite evidence for evolution.
I could go on and on and on and on.
So what are your thoughts?