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Is there a way to self-evaluate whether or not your belief is the product of social status preservation? If not, what good is it to recognize the possibility, s

Is there a way to self-evaluate whether or not your belief is the product of social status preservation? If not, what good is it to recognize the possibility, save for accusing others of it?

itronitron 3y ago
If the person speaking is wearing glasses or has a British accent then odds are good that any beliefs you have based on what that person has said are a product of social status preservation. You can correct for this bias by imagining that same argument being presented by Donnie Baker [0] and if you still find it compelling then it's probably a reasonable point that is being made. I swear to God it is. 0. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhQDsKoMCz0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhQDsKoMCz0
Georgelemental 3y ago
If you radically changed your beliefs and told all your friends and peers about your conversion, what would happen to your status?
handoflixue 3y ago
I've found it very useful to ask "what would it take for me to change this belief?" If you can't think of anything, you're almost definitely in social status territory. The follow-up is how comfortable you'd feel sharing this with your friends - do you think they'd also change their minds, or do you think they'd ostracize you? Would you feel comfortable sharing the hypothetical, or only if those events really came to pass? (For example, if every major university did a press release saying the moon landing was a hoax, I'd have to seriously entertain the idea that they're right. I don't think any of my friends would be upset if I shared this hypothetical with them, and I think most of them would join me if it really did happen. So my belief that the moon landing is real is probably a "real" belief and not just a social product.)
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lapcat 3y ago
There's a past-oriented and a future-oriented question you can ask with regard to your beliefs. Past: How did I come to believe what I currently believe? Future: How skeptical should I be about what I currently believe? The past-oriented question is difficult to answer; it's a causal story that may have a number of different factors, and of course it depends on your brain wiring. It seems to me that that the future-oriented question, on the other hand, is much easier to answer: if your beliefs personally benefit or comfort you, then you should be very skeptical of them. This is a natural corollary of “It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.”

Is there a way to self-evaluate whether or not your belief is the product of social status preservation? If not, what good is it to recognize the possibility, save for accusing others of it?

itronitron 3y ago

If the person speaking is wearing glasses or has a British accent then odds are good that any beliefs you have based on what that person has said are a product of social status preservation. You can correct for this bias by imagining that same argument being presented by Donnie Baker [0] and if you still find it compelling then it's probably a reasonable point that is being made. I swear to God it is. 0. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhQDsKoMCz0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhQDsKoMCz0

Georgelemental 3y ago

If you radically changed your beliefs and told all your friends and peers about your conversion, what would happen to your status?

handoflixue 3y ago

I've found it very useful to ask "what would it take for me to change this belief?" If you can't think of anything, you're almost definitely in social status territory. The follow-up is how comfortable you'd feel sharing this with your friends - do you think they'd also change their minds, or do you think they'd ostracize you? Would you feel comfortable sharing the hypothetical, or only if those events really came to pass? (For example, if every major university did a press release saying the moon landing was a hoax, I'd have to seriously entertain the idea that they're right. I don't think any of my friends would be upset if I shared this hypothetical with them, and I think most of them would join me if it really did happen. So my belief that the moon landing is real is probably a "real" belief and not just a social product.)

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lapcat 3y ago

There's a past-oriented and a future-oriented question you can ask with regard to your beliefs. Past: How did I come to believe what I currently believe? Future: How skeptical should I be about what I currently believe? The past-oriented question is difficult to answer; it's a causal story that may have a number of different factors, and of course it depends on your brain wiring. It seems to me that that the future-oriented question, on the other hand, is much easier to answer: if your beliefs personally benefit or comfort you, then you should be very skeptical of them. This is a natural corollary of “It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.”