5.Groundless Beliefs(2247)

Passage Five

The present text is taken from Logic for the Millions by Alfred Ernest Mander, published by The Philosophical Library, New York, 1947.

本文摘自阿尔弗雷德·欧内斯特·曼德的《数百万人的逻辑》，由纽约哲学图书馆出版，1947年。

Groundless Beliefs

Alfred Ernest Mander

【1】In the future, we are going to follow the practice—until it becomes a habit—of classifying propositions according to their grounds. Of every statement we come across, we shall ask: “HOW DO WE KNOW THAT? WHAT REASON HAVE WE FOR BELIEVING THAT? ON WHAT ‘GROUND’ IS THAT STATEMENT BASED?” Probably we shall be astonished at the number of propositions met with in everyday life which we shall find it necessary to class as groundless. They rest upon mere tradition, or on somebody's bare assertion unsupported by even a shadow of proof...

【2】It may be a belief which we originally accepted as a result of simple “suggestion,” and we have continued to hold it ever since. It has now become one of our regular habits of thought. Perhaps somebody—somewhere—sometime told us a certain thing, and quite uncritically we accepted and believed it. Perhaps it was way back in our early childhood before we had even developed the power of questioning anything that might be told to us.

【3】Many of our strongest convictions were established then; and now, in adult life, we find it most difficult even to question their truth. They seem to us “obviously” true. But if the staunchest Roman Catholic and the staunchest Presbyterian had been exchanged when infants, and if they had been brought up with home and all other influences reversed, we can have very little doubt what the result would have been. It is consistent with all our knowledge of psychology to conclude that each would have grown up holding exactly the opposite beliefs to those he holds now... and each would then have felt as sure of the truth of his opinion as he now feels—of the truth of the opposite opinion.

【4】The same thing is true, of course, of many beliefs other than those of a religious nature. If we had grown up in a community where polygamy or head-hunting, or infanticide, or gladiatorial fighting, or dueling, was regarded as the normal and natural thing, then we should have grown up to regard it as “obviously” natural and perfectly moral and proper. If an English baby had been adopted and brought up in a German home, and had grown up with no knowledge that his parents were English, all the sentiments and beliefs of that person would be “German” and not “English.” Many of our beliefs—many of our most deeply rooted and fundamental convictions—are held simply as a result of the fact that we happen to have been “brought up” to them.

【5】Of course, we do not cease, when we cease to be children, to adopt new beliefs on mere suggestion. We continue doing it, more or less unconsciously, all our lives: hence, to take only the most striking examples, the enormous influence of newspapers and the effectiveness of skillful advertising. Much of what passes as such is not, strictly, thinking at all. It is the mere “parroting” of ideas picked up by chance and adopted as our own without question. Most people, most of the time, are mere parrots. But as we leave childhood, we tend to accept only such new ideas as fit in with the ideas we already hold; and all conflicting ideas seem to us “obviously” absurd.

【6】Propositions that are accepted simply because “everybody says so,” must be classed under the same heading. The dogma may not be that of any particular individual: it may be a dogmatic statement which has been passed from one person to another, from generation to generation, perhaps for hundreds, perhaps for thousands of years. It may be part of the traditional belief of the people or the race. In that case, it is part of our social inheritance from some period in the past. But we should fully face the fact that beliefs which are merely inherited from the past must have originated at a time when men knew much less than they know today. So the fact that a belief is “old” is no argument in its favor.

【7】We need especially to be on our guard when we come across propositions which seem to be “obviously” true. When we find ourselves entertaining an opinion about which there is a feeling that even to enquire into it would be absurd, unnecessary, undesirable, or wicked—we may know that that opinion is a non-rational one.

【8】When we are tempted to say that any general truth is so “obvious” that it would be absurd even to question it, we should remember that the whole history of the development of human thought has been full of cases of such “obvious truths” breaking down when examined in the light of increasing knowledge and reason. For instance, for ages nothing could have seemed more obvious, more utterly beyond question than the proposition that slavery was natural, reasonable, necessary, and right. Some kinds of men were “obviously” “slaves by nature.” To doubt it was impossible.

【9】Again, for more than two thousand years, it was “impossible to conceive” the planets as moving in paths other than circles. The circle was “obviously” the perfect figure; and so it was “natural” and “inevitable” to suppose that the planets moved in circles. The age-long struggle of the greatest intellects in the world to shake off that assumption is one of the marvels of history.

【10】It was formerly “obvious” that the heart—and not the brain—was the organ of consciousness. To most people today it seems equally “obvious” that we think with our brains. Many modern persons find it very difficult to credit the fact that men can ever have supposed otherwise. Yet—they did. That the earth must be flat, formerly seemed so obvious and self-evident that the very suggestion of any other possibility would have been—and was—regarded as a joke.

【11】It was for two thousand years “taken for granted” as “obvious” that a heavy weight must fall faster than a light one. An assumed or dogmatic proposition which had been universally accepted as “obvious”; and which, when challenged, was supported by reference to a dogma of Aristotle. Until Galileo actually demonstrated the contrary, nothing could have seemed more beyond possibility or doubt. Propositions which are accepted blindly, without question, on the grounds of mere assumption or dogma, need to be frankly recognized as such. Progress in human thought seems to consist mainly in getting rid of such ideas.

【12】Other beliefs are held through self-interest. Modern psychology leaves us no room for doubt on this point. We adopt and cling to some beliefs because, or partly because, it “pays” us to do so. But, as a rule, the person concerned is about the last person in the world to be able to recognize this in himself. Indeed, he would probably be highly indignant if told of what anyone familiar with modern psychology can recognize so plainly. It would be quite wrong to attribute all opinions—even political opinions—to self-interest. But it would be equally wrong to deny that this is one potent factor.

【13】“Self-interest” is to be understood first in the ordinary sense, as referring to a man's way of earning his livelihood and acquiring wealth. But we may extend the term to cover also his interest in social position; popularity with his fellows, the respect and goodwill of those whose respect and goodwill he values. It covers his interest in his own career, in whatever prestige he enjoys as one of the leaders—or at least as a valued supporter—of some movement or institution, some religious body, some other kind of society or group. There is many a man who is unconsciously compelled to cling to a belief because he is a “somebody” in some circle—and if he were to abandon that belief, he would find himself nobody at all.

【14】Putting it broadly, we should always suspect any of our opinions when we recognize that our happiness depends, directly or indirectly, upon our continuing to hold them—when we might lose anything, material or otherwise, by changing our opinion. Somewhat similar is the acceptance of an opinion through the desire—probably not recognized by the person concerned—to justify his own nature, his own position, or his own behavior. The coward can so easily adopt a philosophy which seems to justify cowardice—though, of course, “cowardice” is not the name he gives it! The lazy and bungling person can adopt a set of opinions which prove to his satisfaction that “the grapes are sour”—the “grapes” being the rewards that more energetic and competent men can win.

【15】Many groundless opinions are held through sentimental associations. The thought is associated with memories—pleasant or unpleasant as the case may be—of particular persons who held similar opinions. It is found that many a man who in childhood was hostile to his father, in after life is always prejudiced against whatever opinions his father used to express. And conversely in the case of one who has pleasant recollections of his father, his mother, a teacher perhaps, or some other person who played a big part in his early life.

【16】In adult life, as we have often observed, a bitter quarrel may change a man's opinion entirely. Antagonism to a man usually produces some antagonism to his opinions; and the bitterness felt against the man usually spreads to the idea for which he stands. What keen satisfaction we find in belittling the opinions, or attacking the opinions, of somebody of whom we are jealous, or of somebody against whom we bear a grudge! But, on the other hand, it is equally true that friendly feelings to a man have an effect in disposing us to feel friendly to his views.

【17】Other opinions again are determined by what we may best call Fashion. To take one example: how largely our opinions on the merits of certain authors, or poets, or composers, are dictated merely by fashion! But the effect of fashion is very much wider than that: we trace it almost everywhere, in every field of thought. We tend very strongly to feel and to believe as others are feeling and believing. Not all others, perhaps; but others of our own set.

【18】But we do not, as a rule, continue all our lives changing our sentiments and opinions with every change of fashion. Sooner or later our minds become fixed. Many a man holds his opinions today—because they happened to be in fashion ten, twenty, thirty, forty, or fifty years ago.

【19】Once an opinion is accepted, whatever be the cause of its acceptance, it has a strong tendency to persist. Every time we think along a particular thought-pattern, it makes it easier for us to think the same way again. It is quite legitimate to speak of “habits” of thought. The “brain path” becomes so well worn; the pattern of brain-centers becomes so well connected up by continual use, that the nerve current finds a route of practically no resistance, and so it always takes almost exactly the same course.

【20】We all know the person who has a string of stock anecdotes. We all know too the person who has certain stock arguments and opinions which he expresses, almost in the same words, whenever he receives the “cue.” We all know men and women whose minds work like gramophones.

【21】Put them on to the “record” about the good old days; or about prohibition; or about the wicked capitalist, or about the lazy and improvident workers; or about the country going to the dogs; or about the modern girl; or some long, tedious anecdote about what I said to him, and what he said to me, and I said... and he said... and then I told him straight...! All we have to do is to start him off—and nothing on earth can stop him—until the “record” has run out!

【22】The same thing is true of opinions and beliefs of all kinds. After they have been held a certain length of time, they become, as it were, so stamped in by continual use that it is almost impossible now to change them. While we are young, we are continually taking in new ideas, altering our thought-patterns, “making up our minds” afresh. As we grow older, we become less and less able to accept any new idea which will not fit in with our existing thought-pattern.

【23】Thus we become, in James's term, Old Fogeys. Sometimes our thought-patterns set while we are still quite young. In a few rare cases they remain open or alterable even into old age. An Old Fogey may have become such at seventeen—or seventy. “I am almost afraid to say so (says James), but I believe that in the majority of human beings Old Fogeyism begins at about the age of twenty-five.”

【24】Yet when full allowance has been made for all these non-rational factors in the determination of opinion, there remains—not in all minds, not in most minds, but in some—a desire to discover the facts; to think things out in a clear and rational way; to get at the truth at all costs, whatever it may turn out to be! For such minds this... is written.

第五课

无根据的信仰

阿尔弗雷德·欧内斯特·曼德

【1】今后，我们将遵循实践，直到它成为一种习惯，根据命题的根据对它们进行分类。对于我们遇到的每一种说法，我们都要问:“我们怎么知道的?”我们有什么理由相信这一点呢?这句话的‘根据’是什么?”我们可能会对日常生活中遇到的许多命题感到惊讶，我们发现有必要将其归类为毫无根据的命题。他们仅仅是建立在传统的基础上，或者是建立在没有任何证据支持的人的断言上……

【2】它可能是我们最初接受的一种信念，作为简单的“建议”的结果，从那以后我们一直坚持下去。它现在已经成为我们的思维习惯之一。也许某个人在某个时候在某个地方告诉了我们一件事，我们不加批判地接受并相信了它。也许早在我们的童年早期，我们甚至还没有发展出质疑任何可能告诉我们的事情的能力。

【3】我们许多最坚定的信念都是在那时形成的;而现在，在成年人的生活中，我们发现甚至很难质疑它们的真实性。在我们看来，它们“显然”是正确的。但是，如果最坚定的罗马天主教徒和最坚定的长老会教徒在婴儿时期就互换，如果他们是在家庭和其他一切影响相反的环境中长大的，我们几乎可以毫不怀疑，结果会是什么。根据我们所有的心理学知识，我们可以得出这样的结论:每个人长大后都会持有与现在完全相反的信念……那时，每个人都会像现在一样确信自己的观点是正确的，确信相反的观点是正确的。

【4】当然，宗教以外的许多信仰也是如此。如果我们生长在一个一夫多妻、猎首、杀婴、角斗或决斗被视为正常和自然的社会中，那么我们就应该在成长过程中将其视为“显然”自然的、完全道德和适当的。如果一个英国婴儿被德国人收养并在德国家庭中长大，在不知道父母是英国人的情况下长大，那么这个人的所有情感和信仰都将是“德国”的，而不是“英国”的。我们的许多信念，许多最根深蒂固的、最基本的信念，仅仅是因为我们碰巧是在这些信念的熏陶下长大的。

【5】当然，当我们不再是孩子的时候，我们也不会因为别人的建议而停止接受新信仰。我们一生中或多或少都在无意识地做着这件事:因此，仅举几个最显著的例子，报纸的巨大影响和巧妙的广告的效果。严格来说，很多这样的东西根本就不是思考。它只不过是对偶然获得的想法的“鹦鹉学舌”，并毫无疑问地采纳为我们自己的想法。大多数人，大多数时候，只是鹦鹉学舌。但是当我们离开童年时，我们倾向于只接受那些与我们已有的观念相吻合的新观念;所有相互矛盾的观点在我们看来都是“明显”荒谬的。

【6】那些仅仅因为“人人都这么说”而被接受的主张，必须归为同一类。教条可能不是任何特定个人的教条:它可能是一种教条式的陈述，从一个人传给另一个人，一代又一代，也许几百年，也许几千年。它可能是人们或种族的传统信仰的一部分。在这种情况下，它是我们过去某个时期的社会遗产的一部分。但是，我们应该充分面对这样一个事实:那些仅仅是从过去继承下来的信仰，一定是起源于一个人们所知道的比今天少得多的时代。因此，一个信仰“古老”的事实并不能成为支持它的理由。

【7】当我们遇到看似“明显”正确的命题时，我们尤其需要提高警惕。当我们发现自己有一种观点，并且觉得对它进行探讨是荒谬的、不必要的、不受欢迎的或邪恶的，我们就可以知道这种观点是非理性的。

【8】当我们想说任何普遍真理都是如此“显而易见”，以至于质疑它都是荒谬的时候，我们应该记住，在人类思想发展的整个历史中，充满了这种“显而易见的真理”在知识和理性不断增长的背景下被打破的例子。例如，多年来，没有什么比奴隶制是自然的、合理的、必要的和正确的这一命题更明显、更不容置疑的了。有些人“显然”是“天生的奴隶”。怀疑这一点是不可能的。

【9】同样，在两千多年的时间里，人们“不可能想象”行星是按轨道而不是圆轨道运行的。圆圈“显然”是最完美的形状;因此，假设行星绕着圆圈运动是“自然的”和“不可避免的”。世界上最伟大的知识分子为摆脱这种假设而进行的长期斗争是历史上的奇迹之一。

【10】从前人们“很明显”地认为，心才是意识器官，而不是大脑。对今天的大多数人来说，我们用大脑思考似乎同样“显而易见”。许多现代人发现很难相信人们曾经有过相反的设想。然而,他们做到了。地球一定是平的，这在以前看来是如此明显和不证自明，以至于任何其他可能性的暗示都会被认为是一个笑话。

【11】两千年来，人们“理所当然”地认为重物下落的速度一定比轻的物体快。被普遍接受为“显而易见”的假设或教条命题;当它受到挑战时，就会引用亚里士多德的教条来支持它。在伽利略实际证明了相反的观点之前，没有什么比这更不可能或毫无疑问的了。那些仅仅基于假设或教条而被盲目地、毫无疑问地接受的命题，需要被坦率地承认。人类思想的进步似乎主要在于摆脱这些观念。

【12】其他信仰则是出于自身利益。在这一点上，现代心理学没有给我们留下任何怀疑的余地。我们接受并坚持某些信念，是因为，或者部分是因为，这样做会给我们带来“回报”。但是，一般来说，有关的人是世界上最后一个能够在自己身上认识到这一点的人。事实上，如果他被告知任何熟悉现代心理学的人都能如此清楚地认识到的事情，他可能会非常愤慨。把所有的观点，甚至是政治观点，都归结于个人利益是非常错误的。但否认这是一个强有力的因素，同样是错误的。

【13】“自利”首先应从一般意义上理解，指的是一个人谋生和获取财富的方式。但是我们可以把这个词扩展到他对社会地位的兴趣;在同伴中受欢迎，受到他所重视的人的尊重和善意。它涵盖了他对自己事业的兴趣，以及他作为某个运动或机构、某个宗教团体或其他社会或团体的领导者之一或至少作为有价值的支持者所享有的任何声望。有许多人因为自己是某个圈子里的“大人物”而无意识地被迫坚持一种信仰，如果他放弃这种信仰，他就会发现自己什么都不是。

【14】广义地说，当我们认识到我们的幸福直接或间接地取决于我们是否继续坚持自己的观点时，我们就应该时常怀疑自己的任何观点，因为改变观点可能会使我们失去任何东西，无论是物质上的还是其他方面的。有些类似的是，通过欲望(可能不被相关的人认可)来接受一种观点，为自己的本性、立场或行为辩护。懦夫可以很容易地接受一种似乎为懦弱辩护的哲学，当然，“懦弱”不是他给它起的名字!懒惰和笨手笨脚的人可以接受一套观点，这些观点可以让他满意地证明“葡萄是酸的”，“葡萄”是更有精力和能力的人可以赢得的奖励。

【15】许多毫无根据的意见是通过感情联系而产生的。这种想法与记忆有关，可能是愉快的，也可能是不愉快的，与持有相似观点的特定的人有关。人们发现，许多在童年时期对父亲怀有敌意的人，在以后的生活中总是对父亲曾经表达过的任何观点抱有偏见。相反，一个人对他的父亲、母亲、老师或其他在他早期生活中起重要作用的人有愉快的回忆。

【16】在成年人的生活中，正如我们经常看到的，一场激烈的争吵可能会完全改变一个人的观点。对一个人的对抗通常会对他的观点产生一些对抗;对一个人的怨恨通常会蔓延到他所代表的思想上。我们在贬低或攻击我们嫉妒的人或我们怀恨在心的人的意见时，会发现多么强烈的满足感啊!但是，另一方面，同样正确的是，对一个人的友好感情会使我们对他的观点感到友好。

【17】其他观点同样是由我们最好称之为“时尚”的东西决定的。举个例子:我们对某些作家、诗人或作曲家的价值的看法在很大程度上仅仅是由时尚决定的!但时尚的影响远不止于此:我们几乎在每个地方、每个思想领域都能找到它的踪迹。我们倾向于强烈地去感受和相信别人的感受和相信。也许不是所有其他人;而是我们自己的同类。

【18】但是，一般来说，我们不会在一生中随着时尚的每次变化而改变自己的情感和观点。我们的思想迟早会变得固定。许多人坚持自己今天的观点，因为这些观点在10年、20年、30年、40年或50年前恰好流行。

【19】一种观点一旦被接受，不管它被接受的原因是什么，它都有很强的坚持下去的倾向。每当我们按照一种特定的思维模式思考时，我们就更容易再次以同样的方式思考。谈论思维的“习惯”是相当合理的。“大脑路径”变得如此陈旧;由于不断地使用，大脑中心的模式变得如此紧密地联系在一起，以至于神经电流找到了一条几乎没有阻力的路线，因此它几乎总是走同样的路线。

【20】我们都知道有一连串股票轶事的人。我们也都认识这样的人，他有一些固定的论点和意见，每当他收到“暗示”时，他几乎用同样的话表达出来。我们都知道男人和女人的大脑像留声机一样工作。

【21】把他们放在过去美好时光的“唱片”上;或者关于禁令;或者是邪恶的资本家，或者是懒惰和挥霍的工人;或者这个国家正在走向衰败;或是关于现代女孩;或者是一些关于我对他说了什么，他对我说了什么，我说了什么的冗长乏味的轶事……他说……然后我直接告诉他…!我们所要做的就是让他开始，世界上没有什么能阻止他，直到“记录”结束!

【22】各种观点和信仰都是如此。当它们被保存了一段时间之后，它们就会因为不断的使用而变得如此根深蒂固，以至于现在几乎不可能改变它们。当我们年轻的时候，我们不断地接受新的思想，改变我们的思维模式，重新“下定决心”。随着年龄的增长，我们越来越不能接受任何不符合我们现有思维模式的新想法。

【23】因此，用詹姆斯的话来说，我们成了“老顽固”。有时我们的思维模式在我们还很年轻的时候就形成了。在少数罕见的情况下，即使到了老年，它们仍保持开放或可改变。一个老顽固可能在十七岁或七十岁时就变成老顽固了。“我几乎不敢这么说(詹姆斯说)，但我相信，对大多数人来说，‘老顽固’大约是从25岁开始的。”

【24】然而，当在决定意见的过程中充分考虑到所有这些非理性因素时，并非所有人，也不是大多数人，但在某些人心中，仍然存在着发现事实的愿望;思考:以清晰和理性的方式思考事物;不惜一切代价获取真相，不管真相是什么!对于这样的人来说……是命中注定的。