Remember in middle school when we believed we had to wear Abercrombie to be cool because the popular kids said so?
I’d like to say that growing up has resulted in the end of such irrational judgment based on what people around us think, but that’s not true. I see this same groupthink phenomenon every day, except now the popular kids tell us we have to read Tolstoy.
The problem with succumbing to this influence is not our esteeming Tolstoy (or even Abercrombie); the problem is taking others’ views for granted instead of personally investing in the formulation of our own beliefs.
It doesn’t matter who we’re listening to – our mommy, our professor with a Ph.D. from Yale or our peers at a university ranked 12th in the country. If we aren’t critically analyzing our beliefs, they aren’t worth believing at all.
Imagine an NU student who grew up exposed to a worldview that is different from one prominent at NU. In an effort to reconcile these differing worldviews, he could come to two different conclusions and still lack justified beliefs.
First, he could choose to reject his childhood worldview, because he thinks the people from his hometown need to catch up with the times. Or second, he could stand by his childhood worldview, because he can’t believe the people from his hometown could be wrong. Either way, the conclusion is tied to his opinions of others’ beliefs rather than the validity of the beliefs themselves. Though there’s nothing inherently wrong with coming to either of these conclusions, truly justified beliefs have to be backed by a valid argument.
If others’ beliefs are the only support for our own, the foundation of our worldview will be unstable. This is a problem because we should be willing to shape our lives around our worldview. If it is poorly justified, it will crumble in the smallest storm of opposition.
To avoid a deterioration of our beliefs, we will have to either avoid exposure to differing worldviews or change it each time our external environment changes. Both options rob us of the opportunity to test and refine our beliefs until we discover truth.
Formulating legitimate beliefs we are willing to claim as true convictions requires effort, empathy and critical analysis. We have to view others’ opinions as springboards for analyzing and refining our own beliefs. We don’t have to accept others’ beliefs (and by default, we can’t if we have differing convictions of our own), but we do have to be willing to look at the world from an opposing perspective to solidify our own.
If we can’t believe that another’s perspective is wrong, then our perspective needs to change. And if we can’t believe that our perspective is wrong, then we need to accept that another’s perspective is wrong.
Yes, it’s easier to construct a worldview in response to the people around us. However, true beliefs need to be rooted in something stronger. We need to make an effort to objectively analyze our beliefs, test them in the face of opposing worldviews and refine them if necessary. When we learn to do this, we will possess justified beliefs around which we can shape our lives.
Here are some ways to attain an attitude conducive to the formation of justified beliefs:
1. Understand that disagreement is inevitable. If you think you can construct a worldview that is in agreement with the other 7 billion imperfect people on this earth, you’re lying to yourself.
2. Be willing to explore differing perspectives. If your beliefs are strong enough, they will endure opposing opinions.
3. Don’t settle for the ostensible “every worldview is right in its own way” solution. That doesn’t accurately account for the existence of mutually exclusive views, and is just another way to avoid critically thinking about your beliefs.
Kayla Foulk is a Weinberg sophomore. She can be reached at [email protected]
