Illusion-of-Truth-Effect

God gave us a brain and he intends for us to use it.

 

Everyone is confident with their religious beliefs. We all have our holy books. Presuming the Church of Christ was the only Christian religion at the time the Church of Christ gave rise to the Catholic Church. Why do you suppose it did? My guess is the unwillingness of the laity to question what they believed and to question their clergy.  

 

Studies have shown we are more likely to believe that a statement is true if we have heard it before---whether or not it is actually true: “illusion-of-truth effect.” Subjects rated the validity of plausible sentences every two weeks. Without letting on, the experimenters snuck in some repeat sentences (both true and false ones) across the testing sessions. And they found a clear result: if subjects had heard a sentence in previous weeks, they were more likely to now rate it as true, even if they swore they had never heard it before. This is the case even when the experimenter tells the subjects that the sentences they are about to hear are false: despite this, mere exposure to an idea is enough to boost its believability upon later contact. The illusion-of-truth effect highlights the potential danger for people who are repeatedly exposed to the same religious edicts or political slogans.

 

How many untruths do Christians believe only because they have heard it all of their lives?

 

How many untruths do we believe because we have sung them in songs all of our lives; songs written by people we believe are going to Hell.

 

John Jenkins
865-803-8179  cell
Gatlinburg, TN



Email: jrjenki@gmail.com
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"The most difficult subjects can be explained to the most slow-witted man if he has not formed any idea of them already; but the simplest thing cannot be made clear to the most intelligent man if he is firmly persuaded that he knows already, without a shadow of doubt, what is laid before him."
Leo Tolstoy, 1897