Only the believer can exit a closed belief system, via an unplannable first crack

Evidence

Creating a crack in the system of thought: The worlds of ideas with which one has to deal as a campaigner for scientific thinking are often closed systems of thought designed to exclude contradictory arguments. Only the believer himself or herself can break free from such a system of thought – but this presupposes a first crack, the recognition of a first contradiction or a first resistance to the values within this system of thought. “The problem is, you have to get a crack in this bubble so that fresh air can get in there,” pediatrician Thomas F. describes his first steps away from the homeopathic belief of his student days. As in his case or in the case of parapsychologist Susan Blackmore, this first doubt can arise from one’s own failures, or it can be triggered by the behavior of other believers, as it happened to Theresa Stange, the vaccine-critical mother, or to conspiracy believer Stephanie Wittschier. But it can also be stimulated by thought-provoking impulses, as in the case of ghost hunter Hayley Stevens, or provoked by contradiction, as we saw with alternative medicine believers Natalie Grams and Florian Albrecht. But such an outcome can hardly be foreseen or even planned. The seeds of doubt that can be sown are more likely to consist of many individual grains, where one never knows whether perhaps one of them will thrive. — Holm Gero Hümmler, Ulrike Schiesser, Fact and Prejudice, 266

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines the ‘first crack’ mechanism by which closed systems of thought become penetrable.