What Do PhD Degrees and Broken Clocks Have in Common?

As a matter of consequence, entrenched beliefs can often act as barriers to understanding, through cognitive dissonance which then creates a "holy grail" of misunderstanding that is difficult to penetrate.

Once formed, these beliefs can be defended vigorously and often with strong statements that leave little room for doubt.

The Power of Authority

I used to presume by default that those who held strong beliefs and were able to vigorously defend them with strong statements were inherently knowledgeable.

They seemingly may have experienced something profound and transformative that I've not experienced.

An example here is more than a decade ago when this theory was floating around that the world was about to end and this PhD guy that we were neighbors with laid it out to us in a way that left no room for doubt.

I think being a PhD holder did most of the work and his age (early sixties) reinforced his authority.

Image Source

I can't remember exactly the contents of what he said to leave this impression on us, but I vividly recall waking up at night after his "lecture" and observing my physical surroundings to confirm whether the world had indeed ended.

Everything was intact; it was a full moon's night, and looking through the window, I even stomped my feet on the ground to check if it would pass through into the earth. Luckily, it didn’t. I wasn’t dreaming, still in the physical world.

The Nature of Belief

Even a broken clock can display the correct time twice a day.

Even flawed reasoning can sometimes align with reality, although in this case the reality didn't manifest at the expected time.

Sometimes, it's really really hard to differentiate between being too early and being wrong, since predictions about the future tend to rely on incomplete information.

The PhD neighbor's confidence and authority created a narrative that resonated with our fears at the time, especially for me, this neighbor was like a gateway to the world of knowledge.

I wasn't "visiting" the internet frequently nor was I aware that online resources could provide a broader perspective about such claims.

We can question our reality based on other people's assertions if they present their ideas with enough conviction and align with our existing fears or uncertainties.

From a psychological perspective, however, our brains are wired to cling to beliefs that provide a sense of security, especially in seemingly uncertain times.

This is evident in how misinformation can spread rapidly, as seen in various societal phenomena, such as the rapid dissemination of conspiracy theories during times of perceived crisis. The one mentioned above of the end of the world was actually based on the 2012 Mayan calendar predictions.

Usually, deeply held misconceptions tend to persist despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

I still hear echoes of apocalyptic predictions in casual conversations, tied to new events and still rooted in the same fear-driven mindset.

Perspectives on Misunderstanding

Looking back now, I realized that the incident with our neighbor was a two-fold issue both from a psychological vulnerability perspective and a broader societal tendency to trust perceived authority figures.

I mean, how could I even believe that the world could end so suddenly, based solely on one person's unsubstantiated claims?

Perhaps, this neighbor’s conviction was mostly a reflection of his own fears and uncertainties about the world, grappling with his mortality, projecting those anxieties onto a grand narrative of doom to recruit sympathy and validate his existential dread.

The fear of the unknown is always a strong driver for human beings to seek simplistic explanations and collective narratives, and those of us on the receiving end will accept even the most outlandish claims if they come from a perceived authority figure.


Thanks for reading!! Share your thoughts below on the comments.