Belief systems are creative inventions of a tiny minority diffused as unexamined packages

Evidence

The second source of social constraint lies in two simple facts about the creation and diffusion of belief systems. First, the shaping of belief systems of any range into apparently logical wholes that are credible to large numbers of people is an act of creative synthesis characteristic of only a miniscule proportion of any population. Second, to the extent that multiple idea-elements of a belief system are socially diffused from such creative sources, they tend to be diffused in “packages,” which consumers come to see as “natural” wholes, for they are presented in such terms (“If you believe this, then you will also believe that, for it follows in such-and-such ways”). — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 1869

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to Milgrom’s work on how institutions and reputation packages get transmitted socially, and to the general theme of belief as socially constructed rather than individually reasoned. — connects to: Pricing theory initially spread through a tiny minority of convinced disciples — Donald MacKenzie, An Engine, Not a Camera: How Financial…, 744; Unorthodox minority ideas depend on wealthy iconoclasts for funding — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin: The Making…, 1475; Released evidence cannot dispel beliefs rooted in unfalsifiable subcultures — Michael Barkun, A Culture of Conspiracy: Apocalyptic…, 891 (+1 more)