2. Imaginary Evidence

The witch-hunts teach us that the combination of mistaken allegations, social dynamics and morality resulted in the killing of hundreds of thousands of innocent people in Europe. This process started with distress around people, some facts that could be used to construe the mistaken "witch" allegation. If we find ways to interrupt this incorrect inference from the 'facts' and the accompanying social dynamics, we have found an important handle for interrupting a potential witch-hunt or miscarriage of justice.

In this chapter I would like to clarify first that our world view is a creation of our mind. We look at our reality and very quickly we create our beliefs about it. These beliefs in turn filter 'reality' and we 'see' what we believe. In this process things can go wrong and may lead to mistaken beliefs about other people. This in turn may urge us to take actions against them.

Next I would like to explain how social dynamics, like gossiping, "trust your friends" might reinforce this process of creating mistaken beliefs.

In the following chapter I would like to explore how people who have complaints about other can avoid these traps of the mind. Also how people who tell stories about other people can be challenged on its accurateness and proper inferences of the facts.