Have you heard? Last week a whistleblower revealed that the new president of Ireland cant speak a word of English.

If you believe that, friends might consider you either crazy, ridiculously ignorant, or, depending on how they think, in possession of a scandalous truth.

Every month I meet on Zoom with four psychiatrists. Its not that Im a high-maintenance patient; these are medical school classmates in regular reunion. I recently asked them this question:

What do you call it when someone insists on believing what plainly isnt so, or is less likely than a trout singing opera? What do you say to someone who insists that cannibals lurk in the library or that Italian satellites are tweaking our thyroids? Do you call that psychosis? Delusion? Lucid dreaming? Fear porn?

Of the variety of answers these shrinks offered me, one made especially compelling sense. Crazy as it seems, my classmate said, thats normal human behavior. So-called Homo sapiens has always been that way. When times are confusing, we need a frame, a map, some way to organize apparent chaos. So when were desperate we reach for the simplest answer, whether it makes rational sense or not. Weve always done that, and probably always will.

var vf_ad_container = document.getElementById(vf_div_id);vf_ad_container.innerHTML = '

';AdBridg.cmd.push(function() {var vf_gpt_slot = AdBridg.defineSlot('/5195/NCPC_TheUnion/ROS/lifestyles', [300,250], vf_div_id).setTargeting('slot', vf_div_id);var vf_size_mapping = AdBridg.sizeMapping().addSize([320,50]).build();AdBridg.useSizeMapping(vf_gpt_slot, vf_size_mapping);AdBridg.display('ad-big-box4');AdBridg.serve();})

var r1 = vf_ad_container.closest('.vf-promo');if (typeof r1 !== undefined) r1.style.display = "block";

});

});

Given, then, that such porous credulity is all too human, never mind trying to convince your cousin that corndogs wont cure psoriasis, or that theres actually no North Korean colony on the dark side of the moon. No one can change a made-up mind.

We inevitably direct our lives according to our beliefs, such as they are. My psychiatrist friend has convinced me, once and for all, that we believe whatever we jolly well want, independent of facts. Often our beliefs serve us nicely, bringing contentment, but sometimes they deliver unpleasant consequences.

Genuine truth, like cream, will eventually rise to the individual and popular surface. When that happensand provided were mentally healthy we reconsider our less fruitful beliefs, and so change our course. In fact, such flexibility is a hallmark of mental health.

Jeff Kane is a physician and writer in Nevada City

Read this article:
Dr. Jeff Kane: 'Gullible' has been removed from the dictionary - The Union of Grass Valley