Everybody falls foul to cognitive biases; everyone. These biases pervasively persuade the people of this planet to push poisonous positions to powerful people based on poorly researched and perverse presentations of facts and evidence. It’s quite the problem. Literary games aside, our brains have been hard wired to fall for appeals to these biases such that we form false and increasingly wrong views on important issues or in the current state of discourse; miss the point entirely as we are misdirected and tricked into avoiding the important issues in exchange for banality and discussion of piecemeal change.

But there is a remedy for this collective ailment: the scientific method.

The scientific method of hypothesis, testing, modification of hypothesis, further testing and discussion of discrepancies was implicitly designed to conquer these cognitive biases and anchor our imaginative speculations about the nature of our environment in pragmatic and systematic criticism with the knowledge that our perception of facts and the world is fundamentally flawed. We only have 5(+) senses to digest the information our brain receives but even that is completely personal, therefore requires an impersonal and independent testing apparatus to verify what we perceive as real. Please if you have the time, acquaint yourself with this list of cognitive biases as an initial test of your chosen beliefs efficacy.

A common criticism of science is that it too may be wrong. And they’re right to criticise as even scientists fall foul of cognitive biases too. They are still human. However the difference with science is that it is a founding tenant that it accepts its fallibility. It entirely accepts it may be totally wrong, but in the absence of evidence to suggest it one must take it to be the most rigorously tested belief in a fallible yet fundamental truth about the way our society, world and universe operates. There is no law of physics that states I cannot travel to the South Pole and the North Pole in a lifetime for example. You may believe it to be impossible but when you sit down and do the distance calculations and factor in basic assumptions about the length of a typical lifetime and interactions with potential hazards on the way, it becomes increasingly plausible.

Take the systematic deconstruction of the dissident culture on the fringes of global governance. The guardian destroying classified GCHQ documents, the collection of world historical documents hidden away in the Vatican Archives. It was then and still is a lack of people expressing and applying scepticism to the policies and opinions their countrymen hold.

Scepticism is the keystone of any well functioning democracy. The ability to question your government and understand how to critically think and dissect the true nature of a companies, governments and even and individuals decisions is an expression of control over ones live and maintains your autonomy. If we move to a world where people aren’t educated to critically think and to form their own opinions, we lose that autonomy. The educated electorate runs the government. I don’t mean educated in an Eton toff sense, but just to a level where they can think for themselves and will not blindly believe the magazines and news articles they read. Otherwise the government runs you and will leverage their education to exploit your cognitive biases to their own ends!

Now a word on blind faith and its perils in connection to transhumanist, futurist and other future belief based systems.

Faith is not entirely bad, it is an aspirational force that drives humanity forward when united by it but it can be an equally destructive force when two radically opposed doctrines come into conflict. Take the west’s views on foreign policy. It has led to islamaphobic and xenophobic views being brewed in counter-culture groups while the moderate Islamic and cultural leaders shout for change and a return to tolerance in order to contain the divergence of Islamic extremism and corporate fascism. Humanity will not learn from its mistakes until we break the faith based assumptions of absolute truth in the absence of cogent and consistent evidence.

Transhumanism and futurist groups need to be aware of these biases and rigorously apply to scientific method to avoid the regression to the politics and faith of traditional religions. Ray Kurzweil’s assertions are based in facts, go and examine those facts and his methodology in coming to those conclusions, that way you can ensure that when scrutinising its policies and views, you can have a high degree of certainly your views are your own and are well founded in reason and not just blindly accepted because a pseudo-religious movement told you so. Also beware of your confirmation bias. Challenge your views regularly as a scientific test of accuracy.

I intend to carry on this train of thought win my next article on the dangers of reductionist thinking which has often led scientific communities down deep rabbit holes that have ended up totally wrong. Thank you for reading and should you wish to, please recommend this or pass it on to your gran. I endeavour to release posts every Thursday so please feel free to follow me if my views resonance with you or, if it pleases you to follow the doctrines of the goddess Discord, don’t.