When listening to a couple of talks given by Michael Shermer about his new book, “Mind of the Market”, he mentioned that humans evolved to cope with a limited capability to perceive beyond the local environment. That is, we’re aware of what’s close by, but beyond that we’re in the cognitive dark. It requires conscious effort to kick our ability to conceptualise beyond that limitation, to remember those problems that face our fellow humans that we ourselves have no direct contact with. It’s only too easy to forget in the course of our everyday lives, to get caught up in relatively unimportant matters.

It’s certainly no excuse for this extreme kind of idiocy. However, anyone who dedicates their lives to theology is analogous to being fashion experts for the emperor’s new clothes. Once one is willing to believe without evidence, rational/critical thinking on anything may get that much harder.

What’s really hard is that there’s no arguing with such people. They believe they’re right, and nothing can change that.

Well said, Glenda!