The Tyranny Of Credulity

One of the peculiar faults of recent decades to which society has fallen prey to is credulity. It has been claimed that when people stop valuing education and curiosity, they believe in hearsay and the loudest voices. Credulity is at the heart of conformity and authoritarian political movements. Credulous minds staunchly believe in viewpoints that validate their own personal opinions even if such viewpoints run counter to their own personal interests.

Credulity is a step below naïveté because credulous belief requires an extreme ability and willingness to believe statements–especially when those statements are based upon minimal, uncertain, or even false evidence. The belief itself might or might not be false. Regardless of the accuracy of the belief, the credulous person believes it without discernment with objective, accurate evidence.

A popular example of credulity appears on social media, such as on Facebook. A meme or a post from a favorite commentator or a friend claims something that triggers anger or surprise. The reader believes the claim without verifying the veracity of it. The reader feels compelled to share the rumor with her friends group. Similarly credulous friends continue to spread the rumor which causes it to become “viral”. Once people believe the rumor, they become resistant to hearing valid evidence to the contrary. Their minds become closed off from differing views.

Credulity is not harmless. If a snake oil salesperson tries to sell you a miracle cure and you believe his unverifiable claim and purchase the “medicine”, then you fell prey to his swindle. A too common scenario regards people believing the promises of politicians who align with their own political affiliation. The leader’s promises address issues the credulous person feels strongly about. Such a person is eager to believe the political claims, often without fact-checking or through rationally thinking them through to a logical conclusion. A credulous person will believe anything she or he likes, often without merit.

We are all vulnerable to credulity, especially about things we feel strongly about. This is a strong argument against becoming overly attached to views and opinions. Manipulative leaders and their public relations personnel are able to exploit our human credulity to their political or business advantage. They easily persuade us to become their loyal followers. When a critical-mass of the population becomes convinced of the veracity of the manipulative leader’s messages, a nation reaches a high risk of falling victim to tyranny.

One of the greatest problems facing us is believing that we are not credulous. We believe that we’d never fall for the deceit of unethical businesses and political parties. Regarding politics, some people go beyond credulity and cross over into willful ignorance and denial as a way to salve their comfortable personal belief system.

Scholarly books and research papers abound that discuss cognitive dissonance and confirmation bias. When we do not address these factors along with the tyranny of credulity, we become vulnerable to forces who may or may not have our best interests at heart. Many of us have been led down the garden path of unsavory thinking and acting because we did not make the effort to mindfully fact-check manipulative or erroneous claims. In extreme cases, we’re willing to cut off our noses to spite our faces.

In the larger sense, the harm done by a person’s credulity is not confined to oneself, it expands to fostering credulous character in others through the social support of false beliefs. History has shown that the belief in partial truth and disinformation have led to tragic consequences, such as oppression and wars of aggression.

In the end, naïveté and credulity are mixed bags. On the surface, they seem good and harmless in their optimism and enthusiasm. Beneath the surface, naïveté and credulity leave us unprotected against deceit and fraud. We are wise to be aware of our own credulity because it is easy to believe things with superficial evidence, no evidence, or against evidence. Fostering healthy skepticism is one practice we can use in our journey to become the very best versions of ourselves. Go ahead and investigate this yourself.

Ciao

The Blue Jay of Happiness quotes 20th century American biographer and critic, Carl Clinton Van Doren. “The race of man, while sheep in credulity, are wolves for conformity.”