Really, it's about beliefs. How we form them, why we hold on to them, and what happens when they're challenged. Because beliefs, they don't change easily. They need pressure. Pressure that forces us to rethink, to question deeply, to break down old assumptions, or even strengthen a belief that was already there.
Welcome to Kev's Book Rants, where we use books as a tool to apply that pressure, digging deep into their ideas to challenge our own thinking, refine our beliefs, and see if we really believe what we say we believe. And whether we fortify the beliefs we already hold or build something entirely new, the result is still the same: A better understanding of who we are, what we believe, and why we believe it.
Are Your Beliefs Really Yours? | Good Reasonable People
•Kevin Williams•Season 1•Episode 7
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00:00 | 13:03
#Psychology #KeithPayne #GoodReasonablePeople
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📌 Timestamps
00:00 - Introduction to 'Good and Reasonable People' 01:13 - The Psychological Bottom Line 04:04 - The Illusion of Ideology 10:04 - Evaluating Personal Beliefs
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📺 About This Episode
In this episode, I delve into Keith Payne's "Good Reasonable People," exploring how our backgrounds—like upbringing, location, and experiences—shape our worldviews. I discuss the "psychological bottom line," our inherent desire to view ourselves and our groups positively, and how this influences our beliefs and interactions. Join me as I reflect on personal biases and learn to foster more constructive conversations across divides.
Good and Reasonable People is a book about why we're so divided as a country, but it doesn't talk about it in the typical you know, liberals think this, conservatives think that kind of way. Instead, it digs into how life circumstances shape how we see the world, things like where we live, how we grew up and our you know our life experiences, and Paine does a really good job of talking about how things like history, race, class, religion, even where you live he talks about how all of that kind of plays a role in what you believe. It literally had me thinking about how much of what I believe, how much of my own worldview, is shaped by things that you know I barely even notice. Like I literally had to stop reading the book and put it down and think about my own ideologies and my own worldviews and I had to think about where those worldviews came from. I really found myself down this personal rabbit hole that I really didn't expect to go down when I started reading this book. One of the big ideas in this book is something called the psychological bottom line, and basically it's this idea that we all want to feel good about ourselves or the groups that we find ourselves in, and we do that so we can justify what we believe and how we act. And at that point it becomes less about what people believe and more about why they believe it. And that's the part about the book that's really interesting and really informative. Because at that point then it's not about whether really informative, because at that point then it's not about whether somebody's beliefs are logical or fact based, it's about how those beliefs kind of serve a deeper psychological need to feel secure and validated and right. The book really does force you to kind of confront your own biases and you know, kind of think about them, and not really in a judgy kind of preachy way, but in a way that really does feel constructive. It really does give you the tools you need to kind of have better, less combative conversations about the big stuff that really divides us. And that's where the book kind of really pulls you in, because it then just stops becoming about the obvious external things like where you lived or how you were raised, and it shifts into something bigger, like how we interact with our own beliefs and really how little effort we put into actually understanding our own beliefs.
Speaker 1:
I think Payne or Keith Payne, I don't think I mentioned the full author. The author of this book is Keith Payne. I think he does a good job of holding a mirror up to something that most of us don't want to face or admit. For a lot of us, we didn't come to our political beliefs through hours of research or careful reflection or anything like that. We came to it by using the tools we already have to make sense of that messy and chaotic world. And if we're being honest with ourselves, most of the tools that we already have were likely handed to us by the groups we belong to, whether we realize it or not.
Speaker 1:
Most people don't spend enough time with politics to develop real nuanced, informative opinions about it, and Paine makes this point by comparing it to classical music. It's not that people just hate classical music. They just haven't spent enough time with it or exposed themselves to it enough to really have an opinion on it this way or that. Right, and I think politics is the same way. People might have loud, passionate opinions, but, you know, more often than not those opinions are just rooted in loyalty to their group and not some deep personal conviction. And that brings me to one of the big things that really stuck out to me from this book, and that's the illusion of ideology. A lot of us like to think that we're voting or arguing or debating based on solid personal beliefs, but the truth is most of us are just defending the ideas that align with the group that we happen to be a part of. And honestly, that's a little bit of a gut check, right, because at that point you start to realize or you start to question, maybe a lot of your political stances aren't really yours, maybe they're just copies or echoes of your friends, your families or whatever media you like to consume, which is fine, right? Because to an extent everybody is a product of their environment, because you're naturally going to pick up stuff from people that you spend the most time with. That's just how things happen.
Speaker 1:
You know, I'm a Christian and I'm mainly a Christian because my parents were Christians and their parents were Christians and the majority of my extended family is Christian, and you know the people that run in my circle. They're majority Christian too. But at some point there has to be a point in your life where you stop and think for yourself and you have to question your own beliefs. You have to be able to evaluate your beliefs to make sure they're your own and not just something that you've picked up from somebody else. You've got to really ask yourself questions like do I really believe this? You've got to really ask yourself questions like do I really believe this? Am I okay with every facet of this faith or group or whatever I'm in? Am I really truly living it because I believe it? Or am I doing it because everybody around me in my social group is doing it? And I think people are really afraid to ask those questions because they're really afraid of the answer. They're afraid of what might happen if they don't agree with every facet of the group that they belong to that they find their identity in. In fact, the author talks about that.
Speaker 1:
He shares his own experiences growing up in a Christian family and growing up, I guess, as a Christian, up in a Christian family and growing up, I guess, as a Christian. But then, when he went off to college, he actually started thinking critically, started thinking about his beliefs himself and, as it turned out, he realized that, you know, his worldview didn't align with Christianity anymore and for him he already had a new set of friends, he had a new social group, he was taking courses that was challenging the way he thought and challenging his worldview. And you know, now he was in this brand new environment. So now the consequences of him breaking away from the only group he knew he was a part of, the consequences of that were low. It wasn't detrimental to him and his identity.
Speaker 1:
See, a lot of parents want to create a safe place where their child's faith or worldview that, whatever worldview you have you want to give, that you want to give to your kids they want to create a safe place for that and that's great, right. And we'll just stick with Christianity right now, because you know, I'm a Christian and I'm a Christian parent. But a lot of us don't want to create an atmosphere where we ask kids questions like hey, do you really believe this or are you just doing this because mommy and daddy are doing this? You know, what do you think about all of this? And of course it's crazy to you know, go to a 10 year old and ask them to deconstruct their whole worldview, right, that's a little bit much, that's crazy. But my point in saying that is this Most young adults, when they go off to college or when they leave their parents house, they, they have this illusion of an ideology, right, until they are exposed to real life challenges, different ideas or, you know, hard questions that they have to deal with.
Speaker 1:
And that's not to say that kids and young adults don't experience real life challenges, but it's different, right? If you grow up in a typical household, you know you're not going to experience real life, or at least you shouldn't experience real life. In my opinion, the illusion of ideology doesn't become. You're actually an ideology until a couple of things Number one, until your worldview is challenged. Number two, until you're forced to wrestle with that challenge. And number three, you come out on the other side with an opinion or a view you can stand on. And you can stand on that because you have the life experience and you've put in the mental work to decide how you feel about that specific thing.
Speaker 1:
The problem is our society doesn't teach us, it doesn't give us the tools on how to properly go through that process. Right? They teach you to pick a side, or pick at one of the template worldviews that we have laid out for you. They say pick one, stay loyal to it. And now the ideology of that party or whatever group you're in is now your ideology. And when it comes to politics, it's basically like, hey, you're a Republican now or you're a Democrat now. Here's your worldview package and it's. You've got your talking points, your platform, how you should think, what you think about certain things. Here it is. Now go forth and push the party line. It's crazy, right? You're not given the tools or really the time to kind of think through everything and make sure you actually align with that. There is no room for nuance and picking and choosing.
Speaker 1:
What you believe and you don't believe. It's either you're all Republican or you're all Democrat. So how do you fix that, at least when it comes to trying to fix that on an individual basis? Well, first off, whatever group you find yourself in or whatever title that you put on yourself, you've got to stop and really do some soul searching. Right, you've got to ask yourself if you really believe the core principles of the group that you are in. If you're a Christian or you know a part of any other religious group, take some time to lay out the beliefs of that group and go through each one one by one and ask yourself do I really believe this? Why do I really believe this? Who am I if I don't believe this? Who am I if I do believe this? If I do or don't believe this, how does this actually change or dictate my actions and how I live my life? Or dictate my actions and how I live my life?
Speaker 1:
If you're really into politics and you're a Democrat or Republican or whatever, find out the platform of your party. Educate yourself on what the party stands for. Go through those things one by one and see if your worldview aligns with that. See if your personal beliefs align with the party platform. And yes, that can be messy, it can be time consuming, it could be complicated, like it takes a lot of mental and emotional work to do something like that. But, guys, I promise you it is so worth it and it is so important Because once you've determined what your worldview is and what your ideology is, based on your own critical thinking, it's so much easier to stand firm in your beliefs.
Speaker 1:
It's so much easier to have respectful conversations with others and it's easier to adapt when necessary and, most importantly, with others and it's easier to adapt when necessary and, most importantly, it becomes a little bit easier to live a life that you yourself can be pleased with, even if that means going against the grain of what the rest of society or what the rest of your social group or whatever like, even if it means going against that.
Speaker 1:
At that point, your illusion of ideology now becomes something more. It becomes your own personal foundation, and that is something that is so valuable to have, especially in today's society, where everybody is just following somebody else. Now, I mentioned a few seconds ago about educating yourself on the party platform that you happen to find yourself in, and I think the best place to start with that is in books. So if you happen to be a Republican, go ahead and check out this video right here, where I suggest four books that talk about the Republican Party and how it's changed over the years. Anyway, that's all I've got for today. Thanks for listening to my rant. We'll catch you next time.
