do we retain our delusions because we have so much invested in them?

Question

http://www.randi.org/research/faq.html#1.1

Answer 1

You have a link to the James Randi challenge, so I presume that you are referring to "delusional" people who think they have paranormal powers. I would say that some people have delusions which are related to mental illness such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or delusional disorder. However, there are a lot of people who maintain strange thoughts (which may appear delusional) because of cognitive processes like cognitive confirmation. People will tend to seek out information which confirms their beliefs and minimize or ignore information that disconfirms their beliefs. In this sense, I agree that such folks who invest in a particular idea tend to work hard to maintain these thoughts and not seek out discomforming data.

Answer 2

Remember it is pseudoscience. That like faux or fake science not based in the scientific method and rules of real science. They retain their delusions for money why do people believe them, because the is a center in the brain right above the ears that is receptive to supernatural or religious beliefs. It shows up in a CT scan when the subject is stimulated by supernatural or religious things. That however does not prove (in reverse) that the paranormal or religion are true. Maybe it is where new ingenious ideas come from.

Answer 3

Depends on what you mean,
but for me its this:

i retain my delusions, because they are all i have to cling to. they are the hope that keeps me going. they are all i have.
so maybe you can say i have so much invested in them,
or just that i need them,
that they are the life that my mind has created to replace the reality that I'm faced with.

You could almost say hope is a delusion,
and in that
we all are delusional.

Answer 4

no, its more biological than it is cognitive.
in other words your cognition's (thought processes) are reading sick emotions, a delusion becomes the only answer.

Answer 5

people are afraid of change and being wrong