for example climate change or evolution, they are fact and there is no other way to explain so why don't people believe in them then?
2007-06-01 00:41:39 · 15 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Other - Science
Once an issue enters politics, both sides create bastions of their own little beliefs, which no intelligence or reason can enter.
2007-06-01 00:51:35 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Al Gore's new book "The Assault on Reason" also addresses this issue ... from the political perspective. He reached exactly the same conclusion you did as he was travelling around trying to convince people of the reality of global warming.
It starts with people refusing to believe in the moon landings, to total denial of the basic facts of evolution, but gets more serious with people refusing to believe that smoking is bad for you, or that global warming may be a looming worldwide disaster.
But the point is that the very same reasoning is why we're in Iraq ... not only do people refuse to believe something that is true ... they will doggedly insist on believing something that is plainly NOT true (such as the idea that Saddam Hussein planned 9/11 ... which some people *STILL* believe!).
The ability to evaluate facts and the people who tell them, is absolutely essential in a democracy ... and as a country we have lost that ability. The constant, relentless attack on science and reason by the religious right (and its exploitation by the political right) is *incredibly* harmful to democracy ... and causes people to die needlessly.
2007-06-01 11:33:55 · answer #2 · answered by secretsauce 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Climate change is not in fact part of evolution, but frequently drives the mechanism.
There are people who are so bent on believing what they think and are told by their religion is right that they won't see the evidence for things that are against their little sheltered view of their world .
2007-06-01 07:58:22 · answer #3 · answered by Katharine D 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Climate change happens all the time. If you read arguments against this global warming panic then you'd realize that global warming is likely a normal cycle that happens every so often on Earth. In fact the world was actually in a little ice age from 1250-1850 A.D. It only makes sense that now it is warming up. There is also evidence that solar winds, flares, and solar activity actually affect our climate more than carbon dioxide levels do. I suggest you research climate change before you accept the popular opinion at the moment.
Check this out:
http://www.channel4.com/science/microsites/G/great_global_warming_swindle/index.html
2007-06-01 09:07:56 · answer #4 · answered by lenurse 3 · 0⤊ 2⤋
If people didn't try and prove things wrong then new discoveries would never be found.
There were several theories about evolution before Darwin published his own theory. Each added or disproved the previous theory. If Darwin had just excepted what was then fact he never would have discovered the reason for evolution.
The best way to prove something is to try and disprove it.
2007-06-01 07:50:34 · answer #5 · answered by clint_slicker 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It is the extreme that people go to shove it down your throat. Example, yes man has evolved, we are much taller than we were in say 1850, but that doesn't mean that we can from a 1 celled organism. Another example climate yes it is happening but it could be a natural cyclic change that the earth goes thru every few million years, no one even has given that any credence. I think that man is so arrogant that he thinks he can control of everything. I do not think that Man can control the environment as much as Al Gore says.
2007-06-01 07:49:52 · answer #6 · answered by Monte T 6 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Michael Shermer has written a truly excellent book on precisely this subject. It's called "Why People Believe Weird Things", and I think you'd thoroughly enjoy it!
Its primary focus is the things many people believe that are not facts, but his assessments are equally insightful regarding things that are clearly evident, yet folks choose to deny them!
2007-06-01 10:49:22 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Ignorance, fear, indoctrination, economic consequences, political affiliations, refusal to accept paradigm shifts, difficulty separating beliefs from evidence, gross misunderstandings, parroting what other people have told them, lack of understanding of how science works or what scientific theories are, etc, etc...
The point is, there are many reasons why someone may refuse to accept something. People can accept or reject whatever they want, but I have an issue when beliefs fly in the face of logic, reason, and evidence. Particularly when it affects our educational system and environment.
2007-06-01 08:41:10 · answer #8 · answered by Niotulove 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Ssome people are regrettably brought up in a way that teaches them a justifiable reason for something to be true is simply "because I said so". [With the "I" of that statement being a person who learned the fact in question form soneone else who simply said so.] They, therefore, never learn to rely on empircal observations, evidence or to think for themselves.
2007-06-01 07:48:16 · answer #9 · answered by quntmphys238 6 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Because if they already believe that things are one way, anything that challenges their belief is wrong, regardless of facts.
Belief doesn't require facts, it is in essence faith in the absence of facts. Just because we have more facts now doesn't mean they will throw out the outdated belief system.
2007-06-01 07:52:56 · answer #10 · answered by hypno_toad1 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋