The Problem of Fundamentalism Is Not Limited to Religion

Fundamentalism and dogma are intellectual cousins. They are opposed to openness or habitual questioning. To flourish with those beliefs, one must tape other people’s mouths shut as well as building a wall between believers and heretics. While many restrict discussion of fundamentalism to religion, some economists label themselves market fundamentalists and some legal scholars see themselves as Constitutional fundamentalists.

To be a fundamentalist is in some sense to be very lucky. Fundamentalists are not troubled by options, choices, pragmatism, matters of degree, or context. They rest comfortably at night content with possession of the one and only correct understanding of dilemmas that haunt those not so lucky as to possess objective, unvarnished truth.

(Thanks to Linda and Craig Barkacs for making me aware of Bobby Azarian’s important essay, A Neuroscientist Explains How Fundamentalism Hijacks the Brain.)

The memes of any form of fundamentalism promise a fulfillment of our yearning for certitude, the comfort provided by associating with believers all of whom have tasted the magical sauce.

Critical Thinking opens windows; it engages with competing dogmas; it builds complex bridges of shared wonder. It realizes that our collective ignorance is an ocean surrounding awesome islands of human accomplishment built by listening more and lecturing less.