Everyone is aware of the adage that there are no bad questions. However, can we say the same about ideas? Surely some ideas -- like that the Earth is flat, or that COVID-19 doesn’t exist -- are simply bad. The existence of such irrational ideas begs the questions: what is happening to let these bad ideas go not only unquestioned but to spread in person and online, and what can we do about it?
Philosopher Andy Norman sets out to answer these questions in his upcoming book MENTAL IMMUNITY: Infectious Ideas, Mind-Parasites, and the Search for a Better Way to Think. The answer lies in a society that has prioritized “the right to your opinion” over our ethical responsibility to think critically about our beliefs and others. Norman uses the framework of a mental immune system that conceptualizes bad ideas, such as conspiracy theories and evidence-denying ideologies, as “mind parasites” that circumvent the immune systems of rational thinking.
So, what can we do? The answer lies in reconnecting with our brain’s natural mental immune system and strengthening that immune system through the use of reason. Norman guides us through understanding what makes up an idea, to the dangers of treating opinions as something passive that we are entitled to having. By letting go of objectivity and treating challenges to your beliefs as opportunities rather than threats, our minds are better able to understand which ideas should be kept and which ones are actually hurting us and those around us. If we can embrace critical and rational thinking, and set aside blind faith, we can inoculate our minds.
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Andy Norman teaches philosophy and directs the Humanism Initiative at Carnegie Mellon University. Andy authored the popular “Brainstormin’” column for the Humanist Network News and works at understanding how ideologies corrupt moral understanding. His work has appeared in Free Inquiry, Essays in the Philosophy of Humanism, and dozens of other journals. He lives in Pittsburgh with his wife of 20 years, two fascinating kids, and a dog.