Do you know how we humans get to know about the latest news which is floating around? It is through word of mouth and yes people do believe others just because they trust them. The trust is created through a relationship and they find them as honest people. Though they might be honest but we humans can make mistakes. These honest truths can be fallacies. They might hear from someone that the earth is flat and afterwards they will find something written in a book saying the world is round.
Though we all know that earth is round, but during that time no one ever knew or saw through space that earth is really round. And due to assumptions during that period people thought the earth was flat. No matter how much modern we try to become or the amount of knowledge we gain, but still we will keep assumptions as the way to solve complex problems.
Trust is the most common reason for creating such fallacies. If we truly trust someone with open heart then no matter even if the information is wrong, we will still sign on the paper. Afterwards such people realise that humans can never ever be trusted. You cannot absolutely trust humans. Even if he/she has studied and have in-depth knowledge about the subject but still they can make mistakes.
This is because even those people learn through word of mouth. Let’s take example of a book which you have read few days back. What if I say that whatever you have read in the book was meaningless. What if I say that none of the statements written in the book have any sense while looking in the reality. That should be a joke, isn’t it? And that’s why we trust them for gaining knowledge.
When we read fiction books, we are required to visualise those things and at the same time we have to accept it. Just because it is written in a book we think it is true. But the same facts after sometime can turn out to be false. This is because even so called factual knowledge we gain is based on assumption. It might not apply in every individual’s life. That restriction is limited to only few people.
And that is why fallacies exist in the society. It is an assumption by a person according to his/her perspective. There is no true evidence behind it. The only evidence which remains is the trust of people. You might have even seen some animated movies in nearby theatres which are so relatable that the characters look that they exist in the real world.
The best example which can be taken is the Marvel Avengers which gained popularity in no time. And we humans still love to watch thinking it should also exist in the real life. The reason behind this is the trust gained through the audience. Suppose if you time travel in the 15th Century. And then tell people during that period about avengers and such movies. Will they believe in you? Even the time traveling we took in this example is a belief that it exists in our imaginary world.
NONE OF THE FACTS ARE HUNDRED PERCENT TRUE IN EVERY CASE
Facts are said to be real because we can relate them in our day to day life. Like there’s an old fact that women are said to be physically weak. Though you might feel it is wrong to say but yes more than decade ago people were surrounded by this belief. And that’s why women were entitled to take place of a housekeeper rather than working for her career, what we commonly call as housewives.
But now the time has changed and we have realised the importance of gender equality. Due to development those old myths have been busted. And that can also happen for the present condition. Just like in the above example if you hold this with your current facts, then it might also change in the near future. Fallacies are created because majority of people find it as true.
What has changed in the above example is the mindset of people. The older generation followed the trend during that time and that’s why women were called as weak. But now due to awareness of the gender equality we have realised that every gender matters. Now the current trend in many parts of the world is about the neutral gender.
Most of us are slowly realising that these people too need attention and respect. And that’s why we can say that fallacies only remain for a specific period of time. Even when someone said that earth was flat, it was based on an assumption in that period. But when people saw the reality, everyone changed their mindset.
So fallacies are dependent on our perspective and what we believe in by observing the thing. It’s never true logically. If you walk on the surface of earth, you too will feel it as flat and believe it as truth. Suppose if it was impossible to take pictures of our planet and no one ever knew what was beyond this planet, then we would have still followed that trend.
And therefore you should never try to interfere with fallacies because they are based on assumptions and what the crowd is following. If people build trust in that person or in that idea then no one can stop it from spreading to the other parts of the world. So for time being maintain silence.
KEEP YOUR OPINION WITH YOURSELF
You alone cannot change the world. And that’s what we have realised in case of inequality between men and women. That transition did not happen within a year but it almost took a decade to make that change happen. It can be more than that and what matters is the time. If you try to tell people to change their feelings for someone who has committed a murder, then that’s not possible.
You might even get thrown out since you are not following the crowd, what we call as criticism in today’s world. If you think that your opinion matters then you need to wait. We have seen rapid changes in these recent years. You will find that opportunity somewhere in between. So don’t lose your hopes and start trying from now onwards.
You Can Also Read:
1. Why We Should Not Try To Be Perfect
2. What To Do When Someone Cheats On You
3. Why You Should Not Hold Grudge