Closed belief system
Revision as of 15:37, 28 August 2011 by Woozle (talk | contribs) (Created page with "<hide> page type::article thing type::concept thing type::manipulative tool </hide> ==About== A closed belief system is a set of beliefs which includes the be...")
About
A closed belief system is a set of beliefs which includes the belief that criticism of the remainder is wrong and must be discouraged.
Closed belief systems are a powerful tool for causing large numbers of people to take actions that are generally harmful (or even against their own best interests) while believing they are doing so for a greater good.
Characteristics
Closed belief systems tend to have the following characteristics:
- They have key tenets that are sacrosanct.
- Disagreement with the belief system is likely to result in ostracism or even demonization (dissenters are evil, alien, unpatriotic, or "outsiders").
- Empirical evidence or arguments that show flaws in the system do not have to be addressed if they violate key tenets.
- In defense of the key tenets, it is permissible to use:
- emotional arguments (e.g. ad hominem) and logical fallacies
- extreme anger, vitriol, or even violence
- outright untruth (e.g. "Liars for Jesus")
- There is usually a system of epistemic closure, i.e. a support structure (formal and/or informal) where stories that validate the system are circulated, largely unchallenged.