Medieval copyists reproduced contradictory views without vouching for them

Evidence

To the extent that we copy other people’s opinions, rather than critically evaluate them and decide for ourselves, we can end up believing a lot of contradictory ideas. Our heads can become depositories for slogans, conventional wisdom, ”well-established facts,” things that “They say …” and religious quotations, each kept in its own compartment (like my teaching department and research department), and pulled out as the situation demands. These beliefs can be antithetical, but as long as our thinking remains highly compartmentalized, we shall probably not notice. — Bob Altemeyer, The Authoritarian Specter, 1209 (#expands, via linked claim)

The encyclopaedist in any case included all the material that was available to him, without intending thereby positively to signify assent to it, still less actively to assert its truth. Any relevant matter was interesting and should be included without further examination. … Both Varagine and Higden quoted stories that they explicitly realised were irreconcilable; for themselves, they preferred the better, but, as was the custom in such cases, they retained the discredited passages in their texts. As a general rule, there is a wide gap between the most sensible and the least sensible story in a single text. — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 1295 (#exemplifies, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Medieval encyclopaedists included material without asserting its truth; Medieval writers copied well-phrased passages as reusable tools rather than seeking originality; Medieval writers could hold mutually exclusive views without noticing contradiction (+2 more)

Related

• Medieval encyclopaedists included material without asserting its truth (similarity 0.91)
• Medieval encyclopaedists retained discredited passages rather than omitting them. (similarity 0.89)
• Medieval writers could hold mutually exclusive views without noticing contradiction (similarity 0.85)
• Copying an assertion does not imply a writer’s assent to it (similarity 0.85)
• Medieval writers kept discredited anti-Muslim stories alongside accurate claims (similarity 0.83)
• Copying others’ opinions rather than criticizing them yields contradictory compartmentalized beliefs (similarity 0.82)
• Medieval writers copied well-phrased passages as reusable tools rather than seeking originality (similarity 0.80)

Broader Connections

• Medieval writers could hold mutually exclusive views without noticing contradiction #expands (0.92)
• Copying others’ opinions rather than criticizing them yields contradictory compartmentalized beliefs #expands (0.85) — Bob Altemeyer, The Authoritarian Specter, 1209
• Medieval encyclopaedists retained discredited passages rather than omitting them. #exemplifies (0.80) — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 1295