Using Imagination to Accept Facts

I read an article recently titled “18 Really Toxic Things People’s Family Members Had the Nerve to do at Thanksgiving Dinner.” Basically a bunch of people contributed to the article and described insane things happening at their Thanksgiving dinner, ranging from simple etiquette blunders to family members having affairs. I browsed the comment section and saw that one person posted, “None of these are true. #3 is among the fakest thing I’ve ever read. If you believe any of this I honestly think I could convince you to eat a rock.” I on the other hand thought, “Yeah, I could see any one of these incidents happening.”

I feel that sometimes people have a hard time believing things that are true because they have no real experience with what’s being described. For example, one of my favorite books that I’ve read in the past couple of years has been Tara Westover’s “Educated: A Memoir.” It’s gotten mostly universal praise, this tale of a young woman who went from being in an abusive household in the middle of a population town in Idaho to earning a PhD. There are of course some bad reviews that people posted on Amazon, and a large percentage of those bad reviews come from people who question the validity of the book. And the people who question the book’s validity seem to be mostly people who have never been in Idaho or in a town like the one described in the book.

This might also be one reason why conspiracy theories attract certain people and why they seem to be rising in popularity. Some people can’t imagine beyond their environment or what they have already experienced. One of the most infamous conspiracy theories is of course the belief amongst some that the Apollo Moon landings never happened. It’s possible that someone who has lived their entire life in a farming community in the Midwest, someone who has never been on a plane and only seen one fly overhead, might have a hard time believing in people walking on the Moon.

If you think about it, sometimes it can take a little bit of imagination to accept facts. People without direct access to certain types of families, different environments, and so on might have trouble picturing beyond their own lives. This is partially why it’s important for people to read, to get to know people outside their own bubble, and if they are able to to travel.