Book Review: The Unpersuadables
Will Storr’s The Unpersuadables made me think and that’s about the highest accolade I can give to an author
4:15
Recently, I read The Unpersuadables: Adventures with the Enemies of Science by Will Storr. The book asks the question: “Why are facts unpersuasive?” In the book Mr. Storr examines cult and group beliefs, belief in practices such as homeopathy, how these beliefs impact the lives of followers, and how belief systems affect us all. Will Storr presents a personal memoir of his travel experiences in the circles of those unconvinced by facts and science. It’s a good book and I recommend it.
In the book, Mr. Storr chronicles his visits, participates in rituals, and/or observes various cults and purveyors of woo, then uses his participation to study group beliefs and doctrine. From fossil hunting creationists to faith healers, Storr writes about his first person experiences including the hardships endured by him and followers of these practices, and he asks: “Why would someone suffer this and/or why is it convincing?” He meets the true believers along the way and his discussions with them always fails to answer.
Other seemingly less sinister, yet no less avaricious entities fall under the author’s gaze. Exercise"groups" which provide a fig leaf for commercial interests selling clothing and gym memberships keep cash flowing into the coffers of the group's management. Then there are the homeopaths, convinced that what is provably water can contain the "spirit" of some curative. There are more, but the question remains: "Why do people believe obvious nonsense?" "What compels people to join?"
Storr points out at least two aspects of the group thinker's mentality in the book, which revealsmuch of the process of inculcating the unwashed into the brainwashed. One is the use of repetition in embedding principles of the cult ideology in the brains of followers and soon-to-be followers of the cult. Second is the installation of the cult's framework into the follower's personal narrative. Storr posits that personal narrative content and its corruption is the principle process in getting peopleßinto the fold and keeping them there.
All of us have a personal narrative, meaning we have stories and fables we tell ourselves about ourselves. As Storr sees it, in our personal narrative we are the hero of our own stories. Anything that would make us doubt our own heroic nature is rejected and cult ideologies are designed to useour beliefs in our own story while simultanously injecting the group's ideology to inculcate and recruit. Narrative alteration and recruitment is easier when one's life trajectory shakes theindividule's foundational belief in the tales of their lives, making recruitment eaiser. How often does a religious conversion story start with a tale of woe. We have all heard these stories and know people who were at an ebb either spiritually or financially only then to have a come to Amway or Jesus experieince. Storr goes on to say that once the cult becomes the source of one's heroic story it's pretty difficult to get the believer to face up to facts which contradict their personal narrative.
The personal narrative is a powerful force for more than just cults and believers of woo; it also is central to those who believe in conspiracy theories. While Storr doesn't delve into the conspiracies some believe in, it's my personal experience with such believers that if a conspiracy hypothesis is not correct then that individule's life has been wasted. It wasn't until I read The Unpersuadables that I really began to understand why people, who are of high ability and intelligence, believe nonsense. It seems belief in a conspiracy hypothesis is as strongly attached to the believer's psyche as a firmly held religious or cult belief. Before reading the book I never appreciated the power of mythic belief in a personal narrative. The nature of one's heroic narrative explains an anomalous beliefs hold on the psyche of the individule; it's scary.
The topic of cult beliefs and why people are seduced by it interests me, as many of my family members are in cults, or are what might be called cult adjacent. Indeed, there are Scientologists, Unification Church members, Harold Camping followers*, and card-carrying Knights of Columbus Catholics and others in my family. It’s is rife with many who hold beliefs in conspiracies from moon landing fakery to JFK assassination hypotheses. Yet I remain an unapologetic atheist and skeptic wondering why I don’t find myself in a cult of some kind considering my family of origin. What separates us who don’t join the group-thinkers and those who succumb to some tribal in-group's siren song? Apparently, it’s as simple as not allowing nonsense into one’s story and maintaining vigilance over the power of myth contained in one’s internal life narrative. But I’d be a fool to think that myth and nonsense haven’t crept into my own personal narrative.
Sure, for those whose self identity is tarnished by bad fortune, bad decisions, or just bad luck, it might be easy to inject a new narrative, but many are absorbed by groupthink without suffering a calamity. This is where the power of repetition comes in. Humans learn by rote; just as a physical skill is learned by repetition of body movement until a task’s muscle memory becomes natural, so can repetition instill cognitive thinking processes. Humans learn by repetition, repetitively solving problems puts both the methodology of problem solving and the solutions in the brain. But it goes further than that.
Recently I attended an Episcopalian funeral service. The prayers were many times repeated as the congregation repetitively recited prayers along with call and response readings. While one church service isn’t likely to create a believer, over time the message is absorbed and integrated into the narrative of the participant. It doesn’t matter what religion one participates in when the act of participating in repetitive prayer, recitations, and lessons inculcates the participant to a life time of belief.
It really is that simple and terrifyingly so.
Will Storr’s The Unpersuadables made me think and that’s about the highest accolade I can give to an author. The book starts a little slow, but picks up and it is a worthwhile read if you wonder why people believe what they do. The lesson is, examine your own personal narrative and consider if it really serves you and if not, how can we change our own stories to ones based on facts, science, and truth. Change the narrative, change the person.
Are we that simple?
P.S. The power of repetitive learning and the sway it holds on us goes further than a book review,and I will address my thinking on this in my next substack post. As, I try to get what most seem to have no problem getting, a good night’s sleep.
* Harold Camping is the founder of the evangelical radio program The Family Network. He is especially famous for his prediction that "the day of judgment" would occur on May 21, 2011. Many of his followers sold their possesions in preperation for that day, but they are still here and Mr Camping goes onto the list of those who have failed to predict the end of the world. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Camping