Dear Editor,
I once knew a man that kept buying a particular make of automobile in spite of the fact that there was overwhelming evidence that his car was a consummate example of how automobiles should not be built.
In the face of data relating to repair and safety records from numerous independent sources and a conversation with a mechanic who told him that it was his car that kept his repair shop in business, my friend remained intransigent in his belief that his “truths” in relation to his car were more valid than the “truths” offered through data, objective analyses, and the opinions of experts in the automotive repair field.
Sound familiar? How about those who deny that dramatic changes in our climate patterns are occuring, or continue to argue that the billions of tons of carbon dioxide that our factories, cities, automobiles, etc. pump into the atmosphere every year (7-8 billion in the U.S. alone) play no part in artificially accelerating the natural processes of climate change on the planet. How about those who deny human evolution and reject the scientific evidence (fossils anyone?) that proves that we did not suddenly appear fully-formed on Earth thousands of years ago.
I could never figure out why my friend was so unwilling to allow his entrenched beliefs or “truths” to be altered by incoming information, but I do know that over 25 years as a post-secondary instructor, I encountered more than a few students who refused to budge from the “information,” or ‘truths’ or beliefs that they brought with them to an environment that is dedicated to — wait for it — learning. Like my friend, they had made a choice, for whatever reasons, to make themselves immune to facts and information that contradicted those entrenched beliefs and assumptions.
As an educator who dedicated himself to encouraging young minds to learn, to think reason and make informed judgements, it pains me greatly to witness how the forces of anti-intellectualism are winning the battles for political and social dominance at a time in human history when more than ever before we need exactly the opposite if we are to survive on this fragile, grain-of-sand planet of ours.
But, maybe someone will invent a drug that will alter the fixed neuronal networks in our brain that cause the type of intransigent attitudes demonstrated by my friend and some of my students and dissolve the proteins in the neurons and synapses in a way that would allow everyone to become more open-minded and receptive to being influenced by new information and ideas. Now, that would be my idea of a Utopian world.
Ray Arnold
Richmond
