Misconception
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- For examples, see common misconceptions.
A misconception happens when a person believes in a concept which is objectively false.
Due to the subjective nature of humanity, it can be assumed that everyone has some kind of misconception. This postulates to "no-one has perfect knowledge" and "no-one has a perfect mental representation of the world." If a concept cannot be proven to be either true or false, then it cannot be claimed that disbelievers have a misconception of the concept by believers, no matter how much the believers want a concept to be true (and vice versa).
Misrepresentation of a concept is not in itself a misconception, but it may produce a misconception. In conveying a concept, a person may choose to only present a subset of information about a concept. The receiver can assume other concepts about the presented concept, which may actually be false. Some can deliberately use misrepresentation to produce these misconceptions, in order to achieve their goals.
[edit] Challenging misconceptions
Many people have difficulty relinquishing misconceptions, because the false concepts may be deeply ingrained in the mental make-up of an individual. Some people also do not like to be proven wrong, and will continue clinging to a misconception despite any evidence to the contrary. This is a well-known psychological phenomenon, and is due to the lack of will or inability to re-evaluate information.
[edit] Politics
Misconceptions can deliberately be embraced and propagated by government (at any level) as propaganda, to achieve political goals.
[edit] See also
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Look up misconception in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
