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president says...," "E. F. Hutton says...." Any authority can be wrong.
We must think for ourselves, circumstances change and times change.
Sometimes the authority cited is "everybody" or intelligence, as in
"Everybody knows...," "54% of Americans believe...," "Everybody
wants a Mercedes," "It is perfectly clear...," "If you aren't stupid, you
know...." Likewise, an old adage or proverb may be used to prove a
point, but many adages are probably not true, e.g. "Early to bed, early
to rise...," "Shallow brooks are noisy," "He who hesitates is lost," "The
best things in life are free," etc. Knowing the truth takes more work--
more investigation--than a trite quote.
A similar weakness is over-relying on general cultural beliefs. It is
called "arguing ad populum" when social values are blindly accepted as
truths: "Women should stay home," "Men should fight the wars,"
"Women are more moral than men," "God is on our side," "Marriage is
forever," etc.
Another undependable authority is one's intuition or "gut feelings."
"I just know he is being honest with me. I can tell." We tend to be
especially likely to believe a feeling if it is strong, as when we say
"I'm sure it is true, or I wouldn't be feeling it so strongly." A Gestalt
therapist might say, "get in touch with your gut feelings and do what
feels right." Neither intuitive feelings nor brains have a monopoly on
truth or wisdom.
g. Over-dependence on science and statistics --we take one
scientific finding and pretend that it provides all the answers. Just as
we revere some authority and look to him/her for the answers, we
accept conclusions by scientists without question. While science is the
best hope for discovering the truth, any one study and any one
researcher must be questioned. Read Darrell Huff's (1954) book, How
to Lie with Statistics. Also, watch out for predictions based on recent
trends: although life expectancy and divorce rate have doubled or
more while SAT scores and birth rate drastically declined, it is unlikely
that humans will live for 200 years in 2100 and have several spouses
but only a few retarded children. Don't be intimidated by numbers. Ask
the statistician: "How did you get these numbers?" Ask yourself: "Does
this make sense?"
h. Emotional blackmail --implying God, great causes, "the vast
majority," your company, family or friend supports this idea.
Propagandists make emotional references to our belief in God (and our
distrust of the unbeliever), to freedom, to a strong economy, to "this
great country of ours," to family life or family values, to "the vast
majority" who support his/her ideas. When you hear these emotional
appeals, you’d better start thinking for yourself. Remember: in war
both sides usually think God is on their side. Remember: 100 million
Germans can be wrong. Remember: freedom and wealth (while others
are starving, uneducated and poor) may be sins, in spite of being in a
"Christian" democracy. Remember: millions have gone to war, but that
doesn't make war right or inevitable.
