As for me, I will believe in no belief that does not make
itself manifest by outward signs. I will think no preaching sincere that is not
recommended by the practice of the preacher.
Anthony Trollope - Barchester Towers (1857)
Many ideas seem to attract widespread belief because they demand
little mental effort. We are not talking of beliefs such as a conviction that the
sun will rise again tomorrow morning, but beliefs which are essentially stories,
tales easily told and easily learned. We like stories, especially those which reduce
mind-boggling complexities of the real world to easy formulae.
Belief as a story is something we see all the time,
especially when believers argue with unbelievers. So often, belief versus
unbelief is storyteller versus critic where the critic has most of the problems.
Criticism requires mental effort while familiar stories are easily told and
retold and retold again. Critics often retire early from the field of battle because
belief conserves mental energy. Sustainable thinking anyone?
The principle of least energy applies throughout the natural
world, including all those busy little neurons in our big brains. Human brains
use a lot of energy so conserving it is inherently useful. Busy neurons might have
enough energy to work out how greasy poles may be climbed, but not enough for
anything socially constructive afterwards. There must be some definite advantage to being
mentally busy, otherwise slouching off down a beaten path is too easy to resist.
Nobody has political convictions in the sense that they emerged from rational analysis. Nobody has ever had political
convictions in that sense. Where’s the motive, the source of energy for the
neurons? Apart from their entertainment value, political stories are not worth
arguing over because they are so obviously intended to control human behaviour.
Apolitical critics find themselves battling
with low-energy political stories, easily told, easily repeated over and over
again.
Political activists are like everyone else, they are
intimately concerned with the here and now because that is what matters to all of us. Life is lived now, not tomorrow. Belief in
political solutions to human ills are all about now, what is most comforting
what is most suited to a personal history, social niche or career.
This is why so much political debate is driven by easy
stories, by low-energy thinking. This is why complex issues seem to need far more
mental effort than they ever receive. This is how vested interests poison
debates.
4 comments:
Low energy thinking. These days I am strongly attracted to anything that requires low energy. I suspect many other people are of the same mind.
You'll know Frank Davis's "Idle Theory"?
http://web.archive.org/web/20100530090119/http://www.idlex.freeserve.co.uk/
Just another way of bossing people about. Now who will organise next week's mammoth hunting trip, oh that will be Ug I guess, he likes that sort of thing.
Demetrius - I'm attracted to it too. It's slightly worrying, but not energetically so.
Sackers - interesting link. It seems to be quite a widespread idea which appears in a number of guises and also seems to be supported by neuroscience.
Roger - being bossed about saves energy. Ug is energetic so he gets the job. I am not an Ug.
Post a Comment