Ideologies that Require Careful Scrutiny
One of the strongest innate drives in the human mind is an addiction to not thinking and a tendency to choose the path of least resistance (as opposed to the option that will assist us in achieving our objective function).
Because of this, there are two categories of ideologies you should scrutinize more than others:
- Any mainstream or near universal ideology within your culture, especially one that is “improper” to question. Good examples of ideologies to question under this rule within modern Western society might be the virtue of equality, the sanctity of human life, or the inherent wrongness of eugenics. These are all ideologies that almost everyone you interact with on a daily basis agrees with and that the questioning of is a massive social taboo; therefore, they are likely the ideologies to which you have applied the least critical thought. It is easy to argue that if everyone seems to agree on something, it is not worth thinking about. However, remember that societies change their concept of morality over time. There is no guarantee that the future will treat our current society any kinder than our current society treats the slaveholding South.
- Any ideology that discourages critical thought. A good common example of this is the ideology that encourages the lifestyle of “just going with the flow and listening to your emotions” alongside “don’t think too hard about things.” Many cults and certain religious traditions also fall into this category, insisting that there are paths of logic you are not allowed to even consider and thoughts that are evil to have.