As we entered the age of rapid exchange in communication, there is a huge volume of information that we take in on a daily basis. From our relationships and dealings, we try to process so many things at once, and at times it is hard to keep up with the information we are taking in.
And we don't just take them in. There is the tedious task of separating the facts from those that are fallacious when we are given or have taken bits of information that we think is helpful and useful. The challenge is our own thinking might be clouded by a number of misleading assumptions and even some faults in our nature as humans that can make us fail to achieve objectivity, truthfulness, and factuality when dealing with certain ideas or thoughts.
We deceive ourselves
We rely on our senses when it comes to understanding our surroundings, but by default, our senses have their limits and they can deceive us at times. For many of us, "seeing is believing," without questioning if we truly perceived the whole spectrum of the reality of the object or an even. We overestimate our ability to describe things that we see, hear, or feel and tend to think that we will not fall into the vagueness and ambiguity that our senses can create in our minds. Our eyes can be duped by optical illusions or perceptions of distance, height, or size. And how often have we misheard song lyrics, or thought about the color of a certain dress whether it is black and blue or white and gold?
In our conscious state, we tend to focus our attention on only one thing to have a better grasp of what is going on around us. It helps us with doing a specific task, going in a certain direction, or avoiding possible dangers. But there are moments when we slip into our subconscious mind and fail to pay attention to the details of our surroundings. Our memory can also fail us, making us think that certain things happened to us even if they don't.
We lie to and about ourselves often, thinking about how better or worse of a person we are. We berate ourselves because of guilt and shame. We praise ourselves due to our pride and self-centeredness. We do this to project a better image to those who are around us, masking our insecurities and failures. We want others to see us as having a perfect image and that we are invulnerable to the problems of our daily existence. More often, we also let our emotions overpower our minds and cloud our ability to rationalize and make better judgments.
The tendency to equate pleasurable sensations to a state of happiness is also a pitfall that is difficult to avoid. We seek pleasure in things we do, like when we are eating food or doing a hobby. But we can fall into thinking that pleasure is the most important thing in our life, and this can lead to the idea that we must do everything to sustain such pleasurable sensations at whatever cost it may take. We can become greedy, selfish, and materialistic if we focus on seeking things to curb our insatiable desires. Wealth, fame, and power are some of the things that many of us seek believing that gaining them will provide a certain amount of security, though the reality and the uncertainty of things show otherwise.
Society can influence our thinking
We all subscribed to the culture we adopted from our immediate community without questioning them. We think that certain superstitions and myths passed to us by our ancestors are harmless, and we often let them govern our actions even if they don't have a sound and factual basis.
Our circle of friends, family, and relatives is quick to give us "the latest," and we readily accept them as true. We rely on our closest relations for much information. The problem is we rarely question the validity of such information if we get it from someone we think we can rely on. As a result, we tend to believe a false claim about a certain person or an event because we fail to verify what we have learned from our sources, which often leads to our prejudices.
Another thing that we often rely on when it comes to the happenings around us is the news media. Relying on news media can be dangerous because many of them can have certain biases depending on their political leanings or the entities whom they rely on for funds. It is also faulty to think that news can give us the whole picture as often they do not reflect the whole reality of the world around us and only pick stories and scoops that can gather our attention. Though many news media companies do their duty to deliver reliable information, we should also be mindful that news media is still business. As we subscribe to them we might subconsciously be primed to the many advertisements embedded in their presentations of news.
Subscribing to sources of information that affirm our preconceived notions is also a stumbling block when it comes to seeking factual information. We rarely, if not totally, dismiss those ideas that challenge our long-held beliefs, thinking that a change of heart is a dangerous feat even if it means that we can come closer to the facts we seek. Our fear of being different can blind us to certain thoughts that are skeptical of established dogmas. Satisfied with our biases, we might even consider those that have "new" ideas as destructive or even "evil." If we will be the ones to have a differing idea, we can be persecuted if not only deemed peculiar because of the change in our point of view.
Authorities can be manipulative
Established institutions with a certain degree of authority can manipulate our perception of the world we live in. The government can make us think that we are living in a state of abundance when poverty is rampant, that we are equally treated when a certain part of our society is left on its own, or that we are living in a sense of relative peace and security when everything around us is perilous and chaotic. The government can twist the data, statistics, or information to make us feel that it is still reliable and that it does everything to serve its citizen.
Religious doctrines and dogmatic teachings without sound basis are common in the religious sphere. Often they are dangerous and even outright unacceptable. Many of us are taught that certain races are evil, which can lead to discrimination and hate. That faith can heal and can shield people from certain illnesses can lead to thinking that medicines and vaccines are not important but instead are dangerous. That the disruption of our climate is nothing but a hoax some people invented just to manipulate us. These and many unfounded beliefs are common to many people who put their faith in those who claim to have a close connection with divinity.
Buy more and acquire more...
Consumerism is driving the global economy to an unparalleled level than ever before in the history of man. Marketing geniuses devise certain strategies to lure us into thinking that the more material things we acquire, the better our lives will be. This results in the attitude of buying things even if they are not necessities. This impacts our ability to judge which things are more important and which things are not. Global consumerism also affects the way we consume and produce in certain ways. The global market demands that more goods are needed to be produced, thereby necessitating acquiring more natural resources that in turn leads to environmental ruin in general. This means that we sacrifice our care for nature and our environment to meet the global demands for goods.
Nowadays different social media platforms over the internet have become a driving force to spread ideas expeditiously. Along with the widespread use of social media is the boom of so-called "influencers," gathering large amounts of followings across different platforms. Many social media influencers are drivers of many positive campaigns, but there are also a number of them that have questionable authority and intentions. Instead of showing credibility and expertise, promoting critical and analytical thinking, or becoming positive social and moral models, many influencers sway their followers for their personal gains. They are focused on gaining a vast number of followers and subscriptions for profit, fame, or clout. We can see such instances especially when such influencers come from the entertainment industry. Also, several influencers are being used by political entities to promote certain ideologies, but then again, the question is their intentions, knowledge, and/or expertise when trying to persuade others towards their side.
The question of why we lie to or deceive ourselves and others is studied by experts in the fields of science and philosophy. Some argue that the more complex an organism is, the more likely it is to make deceptions. It is to say that lying and deceiving are part of an organism's nature and can even help in survival. But purposeful lies and deception resulting from egotism and self-centeredness are harmful if the intent is to take advantage of others or gain control over them.
Many things in our everyday life require us to make important decisions but there are many things too that can influence us in reaching good decisions and cloud our reason. It is important to always ponder our thoughts and always check if we have certain biases and prejudices that can lead us to unreasonable conclusions. We should also be on guard about others' opinions that may have no factual basis other than their personal beliefs or preferences. Being critical and analytical of existing ideas (including the things in this blog) can help us achieve a better understanding of the world around us. That way we can make decisions, judgments, or conclusions free from any shadows and filters of deceit and ignorance that permeates our society.
Image from: Pixabay by pixel2013
Recommended readings:
50 Popular Beliefs That People Think are True by Guy P. Harrison
A Mind of Its Own: How Your Brain Distorts and Deceives by Cordelia Fine
Caveman Logic: The Persistence of Primitive Thinking in a Modern World by Hank Davis
Critical Thinking, Science, and Pseudoscience: Why We Can't Trust Our Brains by Caleb W. Lack
The Art of Thinking Clearly by Rolf Dobelli
Shadows and Filters That Cloud our Judgment by Leandro Angelo Castro is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
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