Why would it be troubling to a person when someone asks or answers a question that challenges their beliefs?

Question

I am not referring to religion. I am asking in general. This is not a religious debate question so please do not.

Answer 1

Because a lot of times people are hot heads and cannot except any way but their way, if that makes sense.Plus some people are scared of the unknown.

Answer 2

You say, "Why would it be..." when I know that you realize that it IS. To most people, not all. Well, if you ask someone a question that challenges their beliefs then there was something that the question itself revealed to them that makes their belief(s) seem incorrect to them. Suddenly any of us would have a problem. It's a question, so we're supposed to give an answer. But since something in it just made us wonder about our belief(s) we really need to think about it. But if we tell the questioner we have to think about it we (some of us) might be afraid that we'll look like we don't know. And that might be taken as an invitation to get convinced before we've even had a chance to think about it. Then there are people who, in the case of religious belief(s), are a member of a church because their dad and mom are. Maybe their family has been members of the same denomination for generations. They might feel as though their entire family is being criticized. Lastly, if a question PROVES that our belief(s) is/are "incorrect" we will feel stupid. This is why some of us don't play the game of chess. It's kind of sad really. If someone shows us something that we didn't know it doesn't mean we're stupid, it means we WERE ignorant. We are all ignorant of things. Only God knows everything. EVERYTHING we have we all got from someone else!

Answer 3

Aren't we all naught but a series of opinions and convictions about the world we live in?

A belief is inherently emotional, and occurs because a person has formed an opinion and lays stake in that decision. Emotion as well as some other aspects of the self has therefore been vested in said belief. It's troubling when an outside force challenges a persons convictions because it's also challenging part of what makes us sentient, the ability to feel and form opinions on subjects. For an individual, the perceived right /wrong of a belief isn't applicable, they believe it because they can and want to.

When one moves a belief into the critical realm and tries to disprove or unlace the reasoning for the belief, they are arguing something that has no right or wrong in the end. A belief cannot be debated because of what it is , a belief. To say that a person is wrong or right to believe in say, GOD, is an unarguable stance. The belief has been shifted from the emotive into the rational realm of right/wrong. Belief is an internalized understanding that exists without the need for proof, " God exists because I believe in him and I believe in him because he exists. It's a circular argument and false in the rational realm but completely true in the emotional or spiritual realm...

Quite the quandary really... and a tender spot with enough fuel to ignite the entire world as we can see recently...

Answer 4

I would suppose that most people like to be correct or feel some sense of security in the way they look at things and when the way they perceive the world via senses/beliefs/experience is challenged it might have a tendency to question their own validity and suggest to them that they are wrong, stupid, weak, inept, gullible, exposed....etc etc etc..... wether it is correct or incorrect to view things this way is up to whomever is doing the viewing but generally this has been my experience..... and I think that feeling wrong, stupid, weak, inept, gullible, exposed is painful to the emotions of most.... pain often is responded to in a "troubled" way....

The other side of that coin could also be that part of their belief system is that you or the person challenging is wrong to begin with and may be viewed as nothing more than confrontation for the sake of confrontation......which some probably find "troubling"

Answer 5

Would you perhaps be referring to doubting another person's religion? It's hard to accept an answer to a question that challenges what you learned as a child. The longer someone believes in something, the harder it is to convince that their belief is wrong, if indeed it is wrong.

Answer 6

Alot of times people think they have things figured out. For those people they are in a state of euphoria. Then someone comes along and gives them a jolt and when beliefs are questioned people tend to panic. For someone who is not 100% sure of what they believe in in why it's hard for an opposing subject to come into their lives. People need stability.

Answer 7

It is human nature to want to be comfortable -- to stay in the comfort zone. Our brains are at that moment hard wired to let the electricity flow with the least resistance. When someone challenges this flow, the brain starts to change its internal wiring. This causes chemicals to be generated that causes severe pain as the previously connected wires are torn apart and start to form new connections. To prevent this, all we have to do is deny this intrusion from other people's input to us.

Answer 8

Because people hold thier beleifs close to them. They have emotions attached to them. So when it is challenged they feel as if they are personally being challenged. Thats why you shouldnt take your thoughts personally.

Answer 9

Many people don't have backup for their beliefs because they just follow them blindly. Also, one's beliefs are very personal, and they may think that you are invading their privacy.

Answer 10

it looks like they are brain washed. this is a real danger as they locked their ability to listen to other ideas. brain washed people, lost this ability.