Why are some people willing to deny scientific evidence just because it contradicts their beliefs?

Question

Why are some people willing to deny scientific evidence just because it contradicts their beliefs?

Nowadays, science is able to explain countless of phenomena that the primitive men could not. Thanks to psychology we know how the mind works, thanks to sociology we gain more understanding of relationships and societies, thanks to astronomy we know the Earth is round, we know about solar systems, galaxies and cumules. Thanks to biology we know about evolution, and how nature works.
Yet, the world is still full of people willing to ignore this facts just because they are insecure of embracing change and progress.
People that choose to believe evolution is a myth, and refuse to see any evidence. "young earth" creationists that cannot adapt their beliefs to reality. People that still believe their actions are "influenced by the devil", when psychology already explains what causes most human "evilness".

Like the middle ages, many still choose to close their eyes and deny reality.

When we will learn that religion must adapt to science, and not otherwise?
That religion must adapt to the facts we know for sure?
That religion must not be a stone in the road to human progress, blocking it, but a force that pushes us forward to want to learn more and marvel at new discoveries?

When are we going to mature as species, and learn that the rules and facts discovered by science make the universe *more* fantastic, not less?

Let us marvel at the discoveries of science, that show us how marvellous and perfect the universe is, instead of trying to hide them to prevent our dim-witted fairy tales and fears from dissapearing!!!

.... round, spheric, an spheroid... it's all the same dude!

Answer 1

Good 'ol Madison Avenue has provided this answer through research. Rule #1 People tend to accept most readily messages that correlate well with what they already believe. Rule #2 People tend to be most resistant to messages that contradict what they already believe.

That is the reason in a nutshell. My own brother will redefine words from the dictionary on the fly in order to be right. He can't stand ambiguity and he can't stand to be wrong. He's found a home among conservative Christians where his kind of do or die, I've got the right answer attitude is valued.

The other reason is that many people try to take personal experience and generalize it. This happens not only on spiritual matters, but on other issues as well. A person who has been burglarized will tend to be more cautious even if the statistical chances of his being burgled again are very low. And so a person who has a "spiritual experience" tends to generalize this experience as though it were impiracle evidence when of course it is not.

I've often asked why, if you wouldn't trust a first century surgeon with your appendectomy, you would trust a first century theologian with your spiritual beliefs.

I'm a Unitarian Universalist and we do believe in the harmony of science and religion. Our faith continues to evolve in the face of new scientific information. If you would like to learn more about Unitarian Universalism, I have provided a link below.

Answer 2

Well I for one do not think that Science has the final answer. If religions kept changing their mind as often as science does, religion would have been given up long ago.

Science is ever changing as we discover more and more, most of the time, science adds to the wonder of gods creations not taking away from the majesty of it all.

Problem comes when so called religionists believe what is written in the bible is the absolute. Go back to original meaning of words in original texts and you find that the world wasn't created in seven 24 days but rather in seven time periods. Who is to say how long this was?

What discovery about the universe has proved that religion is false? As for the theory of evolution, it is still a theory and science as well as religion does not have all the answers.

Answer 3

What you think you can cling on to something for 4 millenias and just leg go of it in 50 years? Honey, first, people are afraid of change. Psychology has proven that there are a lot of people with a weak constitution that "needs" something to cling on to to tell them what to do. In some respect most religions are a drug and practicioner are addicts. They're fed it as if it were facts from the day they were born.

Now I won't deny there are some good lessons on how to be a very decent human being in the holy texts. But a person with a strong constitution and will can discern what is applicable to today's world and filter out what is obselete and myth.

Faith is somewhat of a nessecity if anything else something to fall back on when everything else has failed. but Faith is not something to take daily.

Answer 4

Blind faith. If something conflicts with their beliefs they automatically disregard it as inaccurate. It is a defense mechanism to protect their fragile and weak beliefs from the truth. Yet the same scientific evidence, methods of extracting facts and truths are used for the other beliefs that accept. It is hypocritical. If Christians deny the history of their pagan bible, and evolution, they should deny the existence of dinosaurs the also the history/relics/culture of Egypt and all the other things discovered by science.

Answer 5

The more science learns, the closer it can come to helping understand the Bible. Just because a few ppl refuse to use the resource doesn't make the book wrong, just some interpretations.

Answer 6

science is good, science is valuable, but none of it will ever explain all things. for one thing you give psychology and sociology a little too much credit. i agree that they're valuable, but there remains things about the human mind that we are so far from understanding.

also, i dont disagree with evolution, but im also not going to tie myself to it and leave out all other possible explanations simply because its not creationism, which a lot of atheists tend to do.

Answer 7

For the same reason some people are willing to deny religion because it contradicts their belief in science???

Answer 8

because they went to fundamentalist christain schools that gradute people with an equivalent education of a sixth grader in any other school--the brainwashing starts early

Answer 9

People (including you) want to think they hold and know the truth when the truth is relative and cannot be knowable.

Science is not perfect.

Answer 10

because some people are just happy being blind sheep and enjoy being led without using their God-given intellect to question things.

THAT is doing a disservice to God - wasting the one thing that separates us from the rest of God's creation: The ability to question his existence and find Him using our brains.