Conversation Article gets to the heart of why people get things wrong

You know a piece of writing is good when it explains many things, not just the ostensible subject the writer has before them. Such is the case with Edward White of the prestigious Kingston University in the UK whose article in the Conversation forms the basis for today’s blog [1] Ostensibly, the subject is Evolution. Now, we’ve always liked a bit of Evolution here. But only as abit of light relief, following it the way people follow the fortunes of Leicester City FC or the doings of celebrities.

Not so in the United states of America where the subject is of neuralgic importance as Edward points out. Huge numbers of the citizens of that country still hold that God created Man exactly according to the schemata laid out the in the early chapters of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. And he has a barrage of statistics to explain how and why. But the point for us, gentle readers is why these people think as they do. For it explains a much wider truth, which is: no species as so supremely adapted to self delusion and to believing the lies, deceits and threats of charlatans as is Homo sapiens. And this is true in all fields-politics, religion, economics, even science and medicine(remember the MMR controversy?) The fault according to Edward is motivated Reasoning, where you start with a conclusion and work back to justify it. This ensures a high chance of error, whatever cognitive powers you may possess, as astute readers will have spotted. Why do people do this? Get this killer quote from Ed:

Brain imaging studies show that people with fundamentalist beliefs seem to have reduced activity in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex — the brain region responsible for cognitive flexibility and analytical thinking. When this area is damaged or less active, people become more prone to accepting claims without sufficient evidence and show increased resistance to changing their beliefs when presented with contradictory information. Studies of brain-injured patients show damage to prefrontal networks that normally help us question information may lead to increased fundamentalist beliefs and reduced scepticism.

As Edward concludes: for most people learning is about who gets to define truth, and own the power that flows from it thereby

And our conclusion? We seem to be drilling down to the bedrock at last and knowing why people make and hold errors, From here at last the Progressive Community may find a way forward

[1]https://theconversation.com/why-many-americans-still-think-darwin-was-wrong-yet-the-british-dont-260709?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Latest%20from%20The%20Conversa

More on the deadly dangers of stress (sorry, but you need to know this)

Photo by Michael Willinger on Pexels.com

A few decades ago, a friend remarked how his brother had left a stable happy marriage for a much younger woman at work. It didn’t last long- the man in question died a few years later of Crohn’s disease. The new relationship didn’t turn out very happily, as I learned from passing gossip. “Going over the side” they used to call it, back in the day. It seemed unremarkable enough -until a few years later a work acquaintance of about the same age and circumstances suffered a similar fate. Raising the question: was the knowledge of the awful decisions they had both made eating away inside, burning with stress, until their poor immune systems broke down altogether? This was the start of a trope we have followed ever since. We have alluded to it several times on these pages(LSS 2210 24; 23 8 20} to name but a few. Now we are glad to see our concerns addressed by altogether more weighty and learned persons (surely not?-ed)

For Nature and its brilliant Briefing arm have put the matter at the forefront of their latest editions Read this, Time to Take Stress seriously, if you don’t believe us:

When George Slavich’s father died suddenly, the clinical psychologist was well aware of how the stress could affect his health, but his health-care providers weren’t as interested. “The experience highlighted a paradox between what I know stress is doing to the brain and body, and how little attention it gets in clinical care,” says Slavich. He is among the researchers investigating how the body reacts to stress and how it contributes to deadly diseases.Nature | 11 min read

You see George isn’t any old George. He is a clinical psychologist at UCLA, no less. And he has launched a project with many other eminent scholars to research the link between stress and many disorders that plague us all, from heart and respiratory disorders to all kinds of psychological and psychiatric ones. Is there good stress? Is there bad? What causes each, and how to cure them? All these questions are now front and centre of George’s research. You can read more here[1] and here[2]

For the last fifty years or so, the whole psychological imperative has been to make people work ever faster for longer for ever lower wages. it is supposed to make us all more prosperous and happy, or something. What if it is doing the opposite?

[1]https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-02066-z?utm_source=Live+Audience&utm_campaign=5e2c1eb595-nature-briefing-daily-20250708&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-33f35e09ea-

[2]https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1471084/full

#immune system #stress #coronary disease #psychology #chronic illness #overwork #health

Help! We’re trapped in a Robbers’ Cave

For all those who had believed in Natural Progress, or the essential decency of the Common People, the Robbers’ Cave experiment came as a profound shock.[1] In 1954 researchers took an essentially homogenous group of boys to a summer camp in the Robbers Cave State Park in Oklahoma in the USA. After some mixing, they were divided into two groups and set into a programme of competitive sports and activities. A profound animosity quickly developed between the two groups which spilled over into extra curricular violence, including incidents such as flag burning and raids on buildings.

Conflict theory had been born[2] It is the study of the -ability? Tendency? pathological instinct?- we can’t find the word- of humans to divide themselves into groups based upon perceived differences. And to fight lethally over these differences ever after. One of the best writers on the subject is Amy Chua, who combines formidable learning with a deft, easy-to-understand touch. She first warned us of the dangers in World on Fire (2003.) suggesting that the rise of vast unregulated flows of capital and people would lead to the evolution of intense ethnic jealousies and rivalries. Her follow up was the masterful Political Tribes (2018), which deepened and contextualised her research in the age of Brexit and Trump. Although we think more work needs to be done around tropes like masculinity and hierarchy, her essential truth is unmistakeable. The central trend, perhaps even instinct, among humankind is towards regular intergroup hostility, usually culminating in violence.

All of which is rather depressing in a species on a tiny planet, a species armed with nuclear, chemical and biological weapons of the most awful power. And all of us who believe in progress have failed to address this essential truth. Some of us have preferred to think up imaginary communities , like religions or social and economic systems wherein such behaviours cannot occur. Others to twist and distort the evidence to suggest that the natural instincts are to reason and justice, and to all get along in a matey sort of way.

Yet we do not despair. Although the mass of humankind has preferred to live in savagery and darkness, small groups of us have effected progress of a sort these last few thousand years. The facts that you will eat clean food today, and wash your hands with soap, is proof enough of that. In the mix we discovered Law, which is based on Justice, as opposed to tribal customs and codes. We admit, following the great Chua[4] that universal values like justice and science are deeply imperilled at the moment. Tribes have the luxury of being able to pick and choose their truths, whereas we are bound by evidence and reason. Yet it is from us, not them, that everything that raises us above animals has come. We must now find ways to re assert the ascendancy of our values. Or die, trapped in dark caves of violence and unreason.

[1]https://www.thoughtco.com/robbers-cave-experiment-4774987

[2]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Realistic_conflict_theory

[3] Amy Chua Political Tribes Penguin 2003

[4https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amy_Chua

#tribalsim #aggression #psychology #evolution #amy chua