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Message: <blockquote data-quote="green slime" data-source="post: 1158183" data-attributes="member: 1325">Oh yes, I agree with you that one should still hold respect for the opinions formed by others, but it is the questioning mind that approaches the topic with a fresh and open attitude that is actually going to confirm/repute established dogma/theories. In questioning the validity of previous statements, both the amateur and the professional can uncover hitherto unknown/disregarded information or suggest alternative answers. These alternative answers/theories would then be checked and either repudiated, dismissed, challenged, or accepted by a large majority of the community. In fact much new information/theories has come to light from questioning the validity of old theories. I'll steer clear of your civil war, because it is an area I know far too little about to really have an informed opinion. I have AN opinion, but I realise I have probably read too little on the subject to form a solid basis for any argument.So the perhaps the answer to inquiring youth is to do more research themselves in the field, rather than force feeding them ideas. There seems however to be a vogue in the states to misbelieve anything, and conspiracy theories abound. While fun, it is impossible to prove that a something has not occured (i.e. Roswell). How is the US government going to prove that it doesn't have the remains of a UFO? If you don't have it, you can't produce evidence to that effect!The thing is, perhaps the arrogant manner in which information is feed to the students, as absolute truths, rather than saying "we believe that X did Y", and if people ask for the cause of these beliefs, then point them in the direction where further information can be found? Another cause could be the lack of faith in anything. If you have no faith in society, leaders in any field, or religion, or the information provided by the media , or even in your peers to tell you the truth, then how can you actually believe anything which you haven't seen for yourself? When a large number of the "facts" that are presented to people, (consider the amount of facts that are misrepresented in the press, due to sloppy journalism, and blatant disregard for consumer intelligence) are incorrect, you can hardly blame people for becoming disillusioned. As for amusing historical fallacies, I met a person in Australia once, they were there with this Viking ship replica in Cairns, and this woman seriously claimed that the Vikings had been to Australia (after discovering America), and that this was of course "proved" by the fact that they were the first seafaring peoples! I asked her "Were they really the first sea-faring peoples? What about the Phoenicians?" Her reply was "...that they existed at approxiamately the same time". At which point I could only laugh.</blockquote>

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