We tend to believe available information, even when it is false. The availability heuristic is a cognitive bias in which we tend to think of things that are more prevalent. Those who live in large cities are more concerned about overpopulation. Those who live in crime-ridden areas fret about muggings. Those who live in the farmland are more likely to think about crop failure.
Faith comes by hearing. That's availability heuristics.
The Bible is correct when it says, "Faith comes by hearing." We tend to believe what we hear.
Why did I believe in the supernatural? Because that's what I heard. It is an example of availability heuristics.
We are affected by our cultural environment.
The Bible is also correct when it says, "Evil communication corrupts good manners." We are influenced by the behavior of those around us. It is another example of availability heuristics.
I was born and raised in Indiana. That is why I speak English with a midwestern accent. I was affected by my environment. Had I been born and raised in China, I would likely be a native speaker of Mandarin Chinese.
A few years ago, I visited China on a mission trip. While there I effortlessly began learning Chinese words, phrases, and mannerisms. I was affected by my environment. Again, it's availability heuristics.
What applies to language learning also applies to cultural learning. Had I been born and raised in India rather than Indiana, I would likely have been a Hindu or Buddhist. Because I was born and raised in Indiana rather than India, my cultural environment taught me to "speak" Christianity; specifically, Baptist fundamentalist Christianity.
Our thinking is affected by the media.
Almost no one thought about space aliens, let alone believed in them, prior to their introduction by Hollywood. By the mid-twentieth century, true believers abounded due to an abundance of information about them, albeit mostly fiction. Such beliefs morphed into wild and peculiar conspiracy theories, including those surrounding Area 51.
Savvy politicians, marketers, and other propagandists understand the power of availability heuristics. They use the phenomenon to affect our beliefs. They use the media to emit sights and sounds that bombard our senses in attempts to persuade us. The strategy works so well that Madison Avenue invests billions of dollars in sight-and-sound advertising. They are often more successful than we care to admit. We can’t help it. We tend to think about those sights and sounds and are apt to believe we see and hear.
Faith comes by hearing.
It is interesting that the sound heuristic seems more persuasive than the sight heuristic. The Bible reflects this when we are told that faith comes by hearing (see Romans 10:17) and we walk by faith, not by sight (see II Corinthians 5:7); that is our religious lives are governed by what we have heard even if it defies what we have seen. That is why calumny is such a destructive phenomenon. Close friends who have known you for years may turn against you after being exposed to a few minutes of slanderous gossip.
Is the following statement true?
You will catch a cold if you venture outside without a coat and hat when the temperature is below freezing.
It is not true. We believe it because we heard it. It's an example of availability heuristics. In reality, you are less likely to be infected by a virus when you venture outside. The reason: viral infections tend to spread indoors where people gather. They infect each other.
Is the following statement true?
In the beginning, God created the universe.
It is not true. We believed it because we heard it. It's an example of availability heuristics.
Faith comes by what we recently heard.
What's more, we tend to believe what we most recently heard and information that is readily available. (Again, the Bible is correct when it says, "In a lawsuit the first to speak seems right, until someone comes forward and cross-examines." See Proverbs 18:17, NIV.) Getting in the last word is an important strategy of persuasion.
Why is that? Why do humans have a proclivity to believe what we hear? Again, the answer is availability heuristics or availability biases. We tend to believe what we hear if it is presented plausibly. When our eyes and ears are immersed in sights and sounds, we tend to believe. Remember, for example, the chaos that was caused by Orson Welles' 1937 radio drama, The War of the Worlds. More about that later.
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