> I know fan death isn’t real, it’s ridiculous of course…… but you know it does happen sometimes right? > cultural mythos is so powerful that it can make peopl

> I know fan death isn’t real, it’s ridiculous of course…… but you know it does happen sometimes right? > cultural mythos is so powerful that it can make people believe things they know to be untrue without even offering them anything in return. The situation is even worse, unfortunately. This is called fetishistic disavowal: "I know very well, but...". Not only does it take the form of protecting obviously false beliefs (as with fan death), but it can also function as a way of disavowing what we know to be true. Many of us know the world is facing a set of worsening crises (environmental/social/economic) but continue to live our lives as if this is not the case. I don't mean those who, for example, dispute the truth of global warming, I am speaking of those who know very well it is true but do not do anything. The philosopher Slavoj Zizek often repeats a story about the astrophysicist Niels Bohr. While a friend was visiting Bohr's country home, they asked why a horseshoe was placed above a doorway, a common good-luck superstition practiced in Europe and elsewhere. Bohr's reply: "of course I don't believe it works, but I was told that it works even if you don't believe in it." Many beliefs in modern times work in this way.