why do people not believe things until they have seen it for thereselves?

Question

scientist didnt belive gorilla's were really at first until they saw it for thereselves, even though people that lived in the jungles in africa kept telling them;

so what makes the creatures people say they see today arent really real, if people from all over the world say they see the same thing.

explain the thing about why scientist didnt believe the africans when told of gorilla's and this was in the 20th century

Answer 1

It's "themselves", Bigfoot. People doubt you exist, because they figure the world has been pretty much explored, and a big ape like you would be seen by lots more, and more reliable, people than have presently claimed to have seen you and your relatives. You can put an end to the problem by just walking to the nearest TV station. Wear your bright orange "Dont shoot me!" T-shirt.

Answer 2

Truth is that people believe LOTS of things without seeing it themselves. This is true of every single person on earth. What they believe or do not believe depends on a lot of factors, including their upbringing, their perception of the world, their scientific and religious perspective, their education, and the logic of what is in question in relation to all these things.

In addition to that, whether or not gorillas exist or not is irrelevant to whether or not other creatures exist. The amount of people who claim they have seen something does not mean much, because quanitity is not as important as quality. The majority of Germany in 1939 believed that Nazism was a good idea, and that doesn't make it true. Using your example, though, consider this: if so many people have seen a creature in question, how come they can't come up with evidence? People did not believe in gorillas at one time, but now they do because it has been PROVEN to be true! That is just it: you are talking about something empirical: something that supposedly has been seen. If someone has seen it, then surely they can photograph it, bring home some of its hair or waste products or foot prints to be studies, and bring others out to see it as well. If someone fails to do this, then why SHOULD we believe in mythical creatures?

Answer 3

Scientists look for evidence and they are open to new evidence. When gorillas were seen people knew they existed. The Australian platypus caused far more suspicion and doubt than gorillas did.

If you are talking about supposed things like Bigfoot, yetis and yowies, there is no evidence at all that they exist. Supposed footprints were made by something else. Supposed remains, hairs etc were from something else and all films and photographs are fakes. That's not a good start in the evidence line.

You provide the evidence that they exist and science will take you seriously. Scientists have looked and looked hard but there is no evidence.

Answer 4

The problem with this argument, is you are not taking into account the things that many people have claimed to have seen, which *do not actually exist!* For example, dragons, unicorns, zombies, werewolves, etc.

If we were to accept that something must exist simply because many people claim to have seen it, then we must also accept Tony's argument, that *you don't actually exist,* because not many people have seen you!

Technically, this type of fallacious argument is known as "appeal to popularity", or the "bandwagon effect." It is faulty, because the fact that many people believe that something is true, is no real guarantee that it *actually is true!* Popularity does not address the truth value of a statement; nor should a favorable public opinion, be substituted for *factual evidence.*

~W.O.M.B.A.T.

Answer 5

It is well-documented that people often see what they want to see, rather than what is actually in front of them. Interpretation of shape, size, color, distance, and any number of other parameters are all easily confused by eyewitnesses.

Furthermore, because we live in a world in which people routinely try to convince each other of things that aren't true, skepticism is a healthy and necessary thing to have.