Might this explain why it's hard for older Witnesses to question the truth?

by slimboyfat 15 Replies latest jw friends

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  slimboyfat

  Have you heard of that famous book The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell? Well I thought I would have a go at his more recent book called Blink which is about subconscious split-second decisions. Generally I would say it is an overrated if entertainingly written book. But I thought this one passage was interesting as a possible explanation for why even very intelligent Witnesses, able to make discerning choices and distinctions in many aspects of life, find it so hard to question the "truth":

  "The art historian George Ortiz was once asked by Ernst Langlotz, one of the world's most famous experts on archaic sculpture, whether he wanted to purchase a bronze statuette. Ortiz went to see the piece and was taken aback; it was, to his mind, clearly a fake, full of contradictory and slipshod elements. So why was Langlotz, who knew as much as anyone in the world about Greek statues, fooled? Ortiz's explanation is that Langlotz had bought the sculpture as a very young man, before he acquired much of his formidable expertise. "I suppose," Ortiz said, "that Langlotz fell in love with this piece; when you are a young man, you do fall in love with your first purchase, and perhaps this was his first love. Notwithstanding his unbelievable knowledge, he was obviously unable to question his first assessment." Malcolm Gladwell, Blink, pp. 14-15.

  Slim
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  dedpoet

  Hi slim,

  It could go some way towards explaining it. I guess none of us wants to acknowledge
  we have got our life choices wrong, especially when it's as drastic a change to our
  lifestyle as becoming a jw can be if, like me, we have no background in any religion.

  When I started my own independent research of the doctrines around 8 years ago,
  at the time I would have preferred to have been able to prove the watchtower right
  rather than admit I'd made such a monumental error in joining. I have wondered
  myself if the fear of being proved wrong, and having to admit it, is what keeps
  jws and members of other cults from really investigating their own particular beliefs.
  I suppose if you've spent your whole life as a jw, to find out that you have been part
  of a cult rather than the "one true religion" all these years would be a real bodyblow.

  dedpoet
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  ninja

  I think they are just mental tbh....muhahaha
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  poppers

  It's a little like bumping into your "first love" after many years. You thought you'd never find a truer love and couldn't imagine a life of happiness without her. Then when you see her again and talk to her you ask yourself, "What was I thinking?"
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  IP_SEC

  sbf.

  Your historian was a victim of CD.

  Your quote describes how cognitive dissonance works to a T.
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  Pahpa

  There are many factors that are at work that make it harder for older JWs to question "the truth." Many those who converted find it difficult to admit that they made another mistake with regard to religion. Older Witnesses have years of commitment to the cause and are reluctant to admit that all those years were a wastel. Also, their whole "support system" is in their association with other JWs. And they realize that they would have to alienate family and friends to break away from the organization. (In this, the Watchtower Society uses "spiritual blackmail" to keep the members in the ranks.)
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  Gregor

  I think one reason might be illustrated by happened in the following true story:

  Mom, Dad, Grandad and Grandma, my sister and I all went to a local lake for a day of picnic and fishing. Dad and Grandad rented a small rowboat and rowed way out on the lake where they dropped the anchor, a one gallon paint can filled with concrete. After a few hours of fishing they started back. Even though there was no wind they worked themselves into a frazzle rowing back to the dock, trading off on the oars several times. When they got closer to the dock they realized that people were watching them struggle. A moment later my Dad finally noticed the anchor rope trailing over the back of the boat. He let out an expletive and pointed to it. Grandad looked at the rope and then looked back at the people lining the dock. They both agreed to continue dragging the anchor the rest of the way rather than suffer the humiliation and embarrassment of pulling it up in front of everyone.

  I think some old timers just can't stand the thought of admitting they invested their whole life in a big scam.
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  BluesBrother

  Quite right.

  I think some old timers just can't stand the thought of admitting they invested their whole life in a big scam.

  it takes courage to admit that you have been wrong, that is why I have an admiration for my fellow posters here. The dubs of my family insist that they made a thorough examination before joining and do not need to question it now. The fact is that it is a "sin" to even think the unthinkable, so they don't allow themselves to think about it - even as I didn't for many years
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  Anti-Christ

  I think some old timers just can't stand the thought of admitting they invested their whole life in a big scam.

  That's a funny story and I think that is part of the problem. An other factor, I think, is what I like to call the "Matrix" factor, when you have been "pluged

  " for so long your brain can't handle the shock so you remain in denial. I think of my mother in law, she is in so deep it's part of her personnality, that if she would learn the truth, she could not accept it, she probably have a mental brake down.
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  Gayle

  There is too much emotional pain to come to terms that one has been conned, duped. The process is bittersweet tho,,at first bitter but becomes sweeter. People as they age make their choices subconsciously along the way.