Consensus, Consent and Cognitive Ease
Truth can be a difficult thing to grasp. Defined by Saint Thomas, following Aristotle, as adequatio rei et intellectus – the conformity between the intellect and reality, the problem resides not so much in our mind, but that we don’t have immediate access to all of ‘reality’. In fact, only to a small and surface part of it. Much of what we know – or, rather, believe – is mediated to us through various sources, which we accept as more or less authoritative. The more some ‘truth’ – apparent or otherwise – is repeated, the more we tend to believe it, for we believe that everyone else believes it, so it must be true, for someone, somewhere, in that morass of people, must know the reality…don’t they?
Hence, the psychological phenomenon of cognitive ease:
We are made to trust others, as evinced by little children, who pretty much believe everything you tell them, at least until they become older, wiser. even disillusioned, as they gradually, or suddenly, discover that people are fallible, or, worse, outright liars. This is one of the primary reasons that lying is an intrinsic evil, since it breaks down that natural trust, and disintegrates the social cohesion, which depends upon mutual trust in others.
One need not be paranoid to have developed a certain distrust of politicians, pundits, even various Church leaders, along with some level of doubt on their repeated narratives on Covid, climate change, global conflicts, supposed insurrectionists, along a host of other issues, all of it repeated endlessly on CNN and in classrooms and conferences across the globe. Any counter-narrative, dissenting opinion, or demurring, even of the most mild and moderate sort, is mercilessly suppressed.
Perhaps there was a time for cognitive ease, but as various false spirits roam the earth, amplified by all the modern media in which we are now immersed, it’s high time for some cognitive toughness, to sharpen our wits and discover things on our own. There are truths that are clear and indisputable, which serve as a foundation and starting point: The principles of the natural moral law, along with the salvific truths revealed by Christ, and defined by the Church’s Magisterium and Tradition. Then there is plain common sense, which should not be underrated, and the testimony of our own eyes and ears. And what of God’s good creation, which He did not make for its own sake, but for ours?
Sometimes the emperor has no clothes, and there’s not much help, and much harm, in trying to convince oneself he does.
Stay grounded, dear reader, and, as Thomas says, conformed to reality.
Carney’s Amoral Majority
After five defections – euphemistically described as ‘crossing the floor’ – and three by-elections, Mark Carney and his Liberals how have their coveted majority. One wonders what bowls of pottage were offered in back-room deals. In the archaic monarchical system that is the Dominion of Canada, this majority allows the newly-minted Prime Minister to rule[…]Continue reading→
Saint Kateri , Canada’s Protectress
This was the title given to Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, by Pope Benedict XVI, when he canonized her on October 28th, 2012, along with six others, in Saint Peter’ Square (she had been beatified by Pope John Paul II back in 1980). With Saint Joseph as our protector, along with the Canadian martyrs, we seem to[…]Continue reading→
A Tale of Two Benedicts
A grace-filled Holy Week to all our readers! As we await and prepare for the Resurrection about to dawn upon us, we might keep in mind two Benedicts: Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, requiescat in pace, elected on this day in 2005; and today’s commemoration of the mystic pilgrim, Benedict Joseph Labre, who died on this[…]Continue reading→
My Name is Bernadette
April 16th is a propitious day, for besides the anniversary of Father de Valk’s death, who founded Catholic Insight in its print form decades ago, and the commemoration of the ‘two Benedicts’, mentioned in accompanying posts, today we also recall Saint Bernadette Soubirous, the young visionary to whom the Virgin Mary appeared numerous times at[…]Continue reading→
Saint Lydwina of Schiedam and Suffering Joyfully
Saint Lydwina of Schiedam (1380 – 1433) was one of the countless and glorious ‘victim souls’ in the history of the Church, those whose lives are filled with suffering, often of an unimaginable intensity, but who suffer joyfully. She was a fifteen-year old Dutch girl, out skating one day, when she fell and broke one[…]Continue reading→
The Glorious Martyrdoms of Martin and Maximus
As we enter into Eastertide, we recall on this 13th of April Pope Saint Martin I (+655), one of the noblest, if most tragic, of the successors of Saint Peter. Born in Umbria, Italy, he was of noble lineage, with great intelligence combined with charity and love of the poor and the Church. While still[…]Continue reading→
Saint Stanislaus of Szczepanów
We celebrate Saint Stanislaus today (+ April 11, 1079), in light of this Easter Octave, a bishop and martyr who accepted the episcopacy only at the direct order of Pope Alexander II. He proved a wise and courageous leader of his flock, put to death by his own king, Boleslaus, for rebuking the monarch’s ‘immoral[…]Continue reading→
Saint Gemma Galgani
On this April 11th, in 1903 – the same year that the Italian Guiseppe Sarto was elected Pope later that summer as Pius X – a lovely, young Italian woman died, by the name of Gemma Galgani. She lived a brief life of 24 years, as did a number of other young saints, including Pier[…]Continue reading→
An Ideological and Improper Translation
I noticed something odd with the psalm reading at Mass the other day. Our bishops’ conference here in Canada has decreed that the Mass in English – Novus Ordo – use the ‘NRSV’, the ‘New Revised Standard Version’, an ‘updated’ translation of the original RSV, first published in 1952. This ‘new translation’ has the tendency[…]Continue reading→
Saint Jean-Baptiste de la Salle: A Teacher for Teachers
Jean-Baptiste de la Salle (1651 – 1719), a French nobleman, ordained a priest, founded the first order in the Church’s history entirely without priests, and this came about almost by accident. I say ‘almost’, for, of course, there are no accidents with God. Destined for ordination from an early age, Jean-Baptiste never looked back, even[…]Continue reading→