Don't know if anybody else noticed but I feel that sometimes we form an opinion and collect data(read articles,watch videos,discuss with others) that solidify our opinions. It's an old trick employed in lab experiments by students in general, discarding data that is contradicting the theory and logging only the data that supports the theory given. This is what we do in most cases.
Did Man Land on Moon: This is what got me thinking about how people tend to read articles conforming to their opinions. Ever since I read that man landing on moon is a hoax, I got interested in it and read a lot of info, saw various videos and googled a lot of sites that proved that it is hoax. I believed that man never landed on moon and NASA is fooling all of us(reading 'Deception Point' by Dan Brown didn't help much). But once I accidentally reached a site which refutes the arguments made by hoax theorists and I found that there is lot more evidence that shows that man did land on moon.
Origin of Bible: Modern scholarship has shown that parts of Bible are almost certainly inaccurate for one simple reason . They passed down through generations, not by written words, but by word of mouth - a notoriously unreliable means of communication. Now there are tons of material question the authority of Bible and the Church (I believe there are also tons of material detailing questionable stands taken by the Church at various times in History). But then Bible is the most sold book and there are even more books on faith in Church.There are people who believe that one goes to hell if one is not a Christian. Even if a devout Christian comes across the scientific explanations questioning the accuracy of Bible,his faith will be restored after hearing a sentence by some Father which goes something like this "Absolute faith in the reality in God and Jesus Christ is essential to us all.But,equally we must have strength to retain our faith when it is tested,as occurs so often in our lifetimes."
Article claiming that Bible is Corrupt
Article claiming that Bible isn't Corrupt
Assassination of John F. Kennedy: This is a hot topic for many conspiracy theorists. I just came across an article that listed fifteen possible theories on who killed Kennedy. There are lots of books written on this topic. Depending on what you tend to believe, you can get clues and pointers supporting that theory.
I am not sure how the first inclinations begin.But once an opinion sets in, it is difficult to reason with you even if your opinion is most unreasonable one. Quoting from Inception What is the most resilient parasite? Bacteria? A virus? An intestinal worm? An idea. Resilient... highly contagious. Once an idea has taken hold of the brain it's almost impossible to eradicate. An idea that is fully formed - fully understood - that sticks; right in there somewhere. This is true even for opinions too - at least the resilient part. In my opinion Dravid is better than Sachin, man didn't land on moon, SRK is the best entertainer,Harry Potter is the best series etc etc... but am I sure about it? I don't know.
P.S. : I am not endorsing any opinion about the three topics mentioned in this blog-post. This is my opinion on sanctity of our opinions :)
Did Man Land on Moon: This is what got me thinking about how people tend to read articles conforming to their opinions. Ever since I read that man landing on moon is a hoax, I got interested in it and read a lot of info, saw various videos and googled a lot of sites that proved that it is hoax. I believed that man never landed on moon and NASA is fooling all of us(reading 'Deception Point' by Dan Brown didn't help much). But once I accidentally reached a site which refutes the arguments made by hoax theorists and I found that there is lot more evidence that shows that man did land on moon.
Origin of Bible: Modern scholarship has shown that parts of Bible are almost certainly inaccurate for one simple reason . They passed down through generations, not by written words, but by word of mouth - a notoriously unreliable means of communication. Now there are tons of material question the authority of Bible and the Church (I believe there are also tons of material detailing questionable stands taken by the Church at various times in History). But then Bible is the most sold book and there are even more books on faith in Church.There are people who believe that one goes to hell if one is not a Christian. Even if a devout Christian comes across the scientific explanations questioning the accuracy of Bible,his faith will be restored after hearing a sentence by some Father which goes something like this "Absolute faith in the reality in God and Jesus Christ is essential to us all.But,equally we must have strength to retain our faith when it is tested,as occurs so often in our lifetimes."
Article claiming that Bible is Corrupt
Article claiming that Bible isn't Corrupt
Assassination of John F. Kennedy: This is a hot topic for many conspiracy theorists. I just came across an article that listed fifteen possible theories on who killed Kennedy. There are lots of books written on this topic. Depending on what you tend to believe, you can get clues and pointers supporting that theory.
I am not sure how the first inclinations begin.But once an opinion sets in, it is difficult to reason with you even if your opinion is most unreasonable one. Quoting from Inception What is the most resilient parasite? Bacteria? A virus? An intestinal worm? An idea. Resilient... highly contagious. Once an idea has taken hold of the brain it's almost impossible to eradicate. An idea that is fully formed - fully understood - that sticks; right in there somewhere. This is true even for opinions too - at least the resilient part. In my opinion Dravid is better than Sachin, man didn't land on moon, SRK is the best entertainer,Harry Potter is the best series etc etc... but am I sure about it? I don't know.
P.S. : I am not endorsing any opinion about the three topics mentioned in this blog-post. This is my opinion on sanctity of our opinions :)
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