Читать книгу Methods in Psychological Research - Annabel Ness Evans - Страница 12

Good fences make good neighbors. Our parents believed this so-called truism. So did their parents. The willingness to accept an idea as valid or as truth because it has been accepted as such for so long or because it has been heard so often is an example of a belief acquired through tradition. Psychologists have demonstrated that simply repeating an idea increases the likelihood that people will believe it (e.g., Schwartz, 1982). No proof is necessary—there is no need to check the accuracy of the idea. Indeed, little intellectual effort is required to acquire knowledge through tradition. Advertisers are well aware of this.

Accepting something as true because it has been traditionally accepted as such is a flawed way of acquiring knowledge. And many traditionally accepted truisms are in fact contradictory. Compare the adage Out of sight, out of mind with Absence makes the heart grow fonder. These truisms cannot both be correct. What about Birds of a feather flock together and Opposites attract? You can probably think of more examples. This is not to say that some traditional beliefs are not true; it is to say that we cannot know that something is true simply because it has always been thought to be true. A willingness to do so indicates intellectual laziness.

Consider the following dialogue:

“Grandpa is never going to figure out e-mail.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Everybody knows you can’t teach an old dog new tricks.”

The belief expressed in this example is supported by nothing more than tradition.