Starboy

Greetings,

This is the first topic I have posted to this web. I am not sure if this is the appropriate forum but if it is not I suspect I will find out soon enough.

I wish to post the following definition:

Truth Trap - mental condition in which the person affected is not open to new ideas or information that conflicts with beliefs that are held to be absolutely true.

Based on this definition do you think such a trap exists? If it does exist, is it a permanent condition, and if it is not, how could a person break out of it?

Also it is my contention that all fundamentalist are stuck in such a trap, and that people stuck in such traps are susceptible to unscrupulous individuals who can get these poor people to do all sorts of things that are not good for the victims or the public at large. As such it poses a risk to the public and should be regulated by law.

Is this too far out? What do you think?

Starboy

[ July 07, 2002: Message edited by: Starboy ]

[ July 07, 2002: Message edited by: Starboy ]</p>

eh

Well I would hold that certain things are absolutely true. 2 plus 2 will not equal 40. Zero plus zero will never equal greater than zero. Nothing will make me change my mind on this, and I cannot change from this state of mind. Or was that not what you were looking for?

True_Disbeliever

You'll never get a job with Andersen Consulting, then

Starboy

I hadn't thought of that, perhaps that is also a truth trap. But then again 2+2=4 is true by definition and any other result is false by that same definition. Is that really a truth trap or just an agreed upon convention.

Perhaps fundamentalist truth traps work the same way. Religious beliefs are taken to be true by definition and as a result the believer just will not change their mind, no mater what is presented.

Based on this, is there any point in arguing with fundamentalists? And if the truths that these fundamentalist hold are a danger to society, shouldn’t these people just be shot on sight?

Starboy

Mr. Sammi

Starbaby,

Truth Trap : A closed world of discourse.


Sammi Na Boodie ()

Starboy

Greetings Sammi,

Are you trying to tell me to shut my Truth Trap?

Starboy

Mr. Sammi

hardly.

Sammi Na Boodie ()

Tim Thompson

I think you will find that the truth trap theory already exists, under the title of <a href="http://www.apa.org/books/4318830s.html" target="_blank">cognitive dissonance</a>.

Starboy

Hi Tim,

The truth trap concept is not really a theory, just a definition. I did read a little from the link. I did find this interesting:

Dissonance is aroused when people are exposed to information inconsistent with their beliefs. If the dissonance is not reduced by changing one's belief, the dissonance can lead to misperception or misinterpretation of the information, rejection or refutation of the information, seeking support from those who agree with one's belief, and attempting to persuade others to accept one's belief. In a study of the effect of belief disconfirmation on proselytizing, Festinger, Riecken, and Schachter (1956) acted as participant observers in a group that had become committed to an important belief that was specific enough to be capable of unequivocal disconfirmation. The group believed a prophecy that a flood would engulf the continent. The prophecy was supposedly transmitted by beings from outer space to a woman in the group. The group members also believed that they had been chosen to be saved from the flood and would be evacuated in a flying saucer.
Festinger et al. (1956) described what happened when the flood did not occur. Members of the group who were alone at that time did not maintain their beliefs. Members who were waiting with other group members maintained their faith. The woman reported receiving a message that indicated that the flood had been prevented by God because of the group's existence as a force for good. Before the disconfirmation of the belief about the flood, the group engaged in little proselytizing. After the disconfirmation, they engaged in substantial proselytizing. The group members sought to persuade others of their beliefs, which would add cognitions consonant with those beliefs. This paradigm, referred to as the belief-disconfirmation paradigm, continues to generate insight into dissonance processes (e.g., Burris, Harmon-Jones, & Tarpley, 1997; Harmon-Jones, chap. 4, this volume).

From this it would appear that there is no hope. Those stuck in a truth trap are doomed to remain trapped; furthermore they seek to trap others. This sounds like the plot out of the “Invasion of the Body Snatchers.” I guess this means we will have to kill them all before they infect us!

Starboy

[ July 11, 2002: Message edited by: Starboy ]</p>

John Page

And vice versa.