Inspirational: Kripkean Dogmatism, Confirmation Bias, Straw Man Arguments, and The Garden of the Senses

Brethren:

I'm of a strong mindset that learning new things is a great way to not only better yourself as a man, but also keep yourself healthy.  It's been shown learning about new areas of interest increases neural pathways in the brain, contributes to longevity, and staves Alzheimer's disease.

With that, I want to stray from the normal Masonic discussions and talk about three concepts I've uncovered recently, and how they apply to Freemasonry.

The first is something called Kripkean Dogmatism.  It was a philosophy founded by a guy named Saul Kripke.  Distilled to its plainest form, Kripkean Dogmatism says the mind will hold onto two or three facts about a subject and ignore potentially 97-98 other facts on the same subject to make sure their belief structure (the "Dogma") remains true!

Applying this to our Fraternity, if someone wants to believe that we are an allegedly Satanic Order with connections to aliens because it's something they saw on a History Channel "documentary" then they will continue to believe that despite the ninety-eight facts to the contrary, publicly available to those who choose to engage in a cursory search!

The second concept for discussion this evening is "confirmation bias."  This is a logical principle that says we want to believe what we think true so much that we will seek out people and ideas that believe the same things we do, even if that belief is mistaken or incorrect.  This is especially true in the Internet age, where Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and all sorts of social media allows us to keep ourselves thinking what we WANT to think is true.

Applying again this concept to our Fraternity, if someone wants to believe our Order is anti-Christian, they will do everything in their power to pay attention to those sources that say we are not Christian, because that's what they want to believe.  That person's worldview needs to believe Freemasonry can't be Christian, so they will work to find sources and people to support that view.

Now the "Straw Man Argument."  This is a logical fallacy where people pose an argument, and the responding party takes that argument, turns it into something completely different, proceeds to knock it down, and then declares victory.

Here is the "Straw Man Argument" in action when applied to our Fraternity.  "Freemasonry is a system of morality." "Freemasonry is misogynistic, so it can't be moral, because the Fraternity doesn't admit women."  The average Master Mason would then say "We don't admit women because," and the straw man argument would then be "If Freemasonry isn't misogynistic and amoral, then admit a woman into the Fraternity." You can't win at that point, and must therefore disengage because the person will not be amenable to the discussions that make our Order the bastion of enlightenment through the ages.

Tying all of this together, I leave you with a "therapeutic metaphor" described by Toronto therapist and hypnotist Mike Mandel.  On a trip to France, he and his wife visited a "garden of the senses."  This garden had beautiful flowers to view, wind chimes to hear the wind, berries to taste, plants one could smell, and certain plants like "lamb's ears" with a very kinesthetic (touch based) appeal.

While Mike was in this garden, he heard four French women conversing.  Mike was slightly knowledgeable of French, so he stopped to listen and see if he could understand their conversation.  The more he listened, the more he was proud of his ability to understand French.  It was a proud moment for him!  His linguistic studies were paying off!

It took Mike twenty minutes to finally realize the four women were speaking English with very heavy French accents.

I look forward to writing again for you all.

Warmest Regards,
Bro. Chris Seaton
Junior Warden, Rockford Lodge No. 469