Historically disreputable ideas warrant study because ignoring them does not stop believers

Evidence

Many readers may regard both sets of ideas as bizarre and may question whether this is terrain worth exploring. I have addressed such skepticism in earlier books on millennialism—belief in the imminent perfection of human existence—and my response here is the same: it makes little sense to exclude ideas from examination merely because they are not considered respectable. Failing to analyze them will not keep some people from believing them, and history is littered with intellectually disreputable ideas that have had devastating effects—for example, the scientifi c acceptance of racial differences in the nineteenth century. Failure to examine them did not cause them to disappear. My examination of certain odd beliefs does not signify my acceptance of them. — Michael Barkun, A Culture of Conspiracy, 51

Categorization

• APHORISMS: A defense of studying fringe beliefs that doubles as a methodological principle: exclusion from respectability is no argument against examination.
• XREF: connects to: Studying conspiracy beliefs itself triggers defensive backlash from believers. — Joseph E. Uscinski and Joseph M. Parent, American Conspiracy Theories, 154; Non-Christians may resist evidence contradicting their beliefs — Bob Altemeyer, The Authoritarian Specter, 4168

Broader Connections

• Studying conspiracy beliefs itself triggers defensive backlash from believers. #qualifies (0.80) — Joseph E. Uscinski and Joseph M. Parent, American Conspiracy Theories, 154
• Non-Christians may resist evidence contradicting their beliefs #complicates (0.75) — Bob Altemeyer, The Authoritarian Specter, 4168