The Contortions of Cowardice
Rationality should be rigid, but often it is warped by fear.
There are few forces in the human mind capable of contorting reason further than cowardice. The elasticity of justification is tested to its outermost range by those impelled by fear. There is no more persuasive force than the convincing whisper of apprehension.
A free-floating conclusion, in search of a bridge to some logical foundation, never fails to construct even the most tenuous connection, if sufficiently incentivized by fear. Logic is without aim. It moves in the sole direction that its structure allows. Fear, however, always has a destination it strives to reach. Inflexible logic is forced to snake its way to some unnatural end by the mind dizzy with panic.
There will always manifest a stroke of creative genius when any able mind is called upon to concoct an argument in support of a self-serving judgement. Let those things which a person values most be put on the line, and watch how the keenest thought — a true syllogistic virtuosity — will at once work to offer a plausible rationale in support of what is both indefensible and unbelieved.
The pillars of truth never fail to crack and crook under the pressure of fear.
Martin Vidal is the author of The Ambitious Handbook: A Guide for Ambitious Persons
