The previous article published here talked about the ubiquity of baloney in our culture due to the beliefs inherent in the interdependent mindset. It was mentioned in that article that mistaken beliefs have consequences.
In this article I want to look at beliefs arising from the independent mindset and identify their negative consequences.
Because the independent mindset is based on the mistaken assumption that people are independent, separately existing individuals in a world of independently existing things our culture has been shaped to assume the characteristics of that fragmented worldview. This has been the predominant worldview of western civilization for millennia colouring every facet of human life.
The counterculture of the ’60s was largely a reaction to the realization that the beliefs of the independent mindset were responsible for many of the environmental and social problems of the day. Though it was not recognized at the time, the “establishment” that was so disliked by the counterculture was a consequence of the prevailing independent mindset.
Characteristic of the independent mindset inspired culture of the time was the way it encouraged various forms of separation among members of the population. Tim Burkett, in his book titled, Nothing Holy about It: The Zen of Being Just Who You Are, expressed it this way:
“We were not pacified by platitudes that divide people by religious beliefs, bloodlines, and citizenship, drawing lines around meaningless and totally random constellations, creating divisions where none existed.”
This practice of “drawing lines around meaningless and totally random constellations, creating divisions where none existed” is supported by a mindset that sees individuals as existing independently of each other and the rest of existence. Looking to mitigate the discomfort of the separation inherent in independent existence individuals were drawn to the sense of belonging and community found in religious, familial, and political groups.
Alas, we are all too familiar with the results of having been sorted into exclusionary groupings. Rivalry devolves into distrust. Competition devolves into violence. Disagreement devolves into intolerance. The independent mindset is responsible for the original sin of a belief in separateness from which a multitude of sins continue to arise.
I would add to The Baloney Detection Kits of Michael Shermer and Carl Sagan one more identifier of baloney.
If the claim assumes the possibility of totally independent existence it may ultimately be untrue.