The Four Idols

 

Francis Bacon was an English scholar and philosopher who lived from 1561 To 1626. Amongst other things he wrote and thought about thinking.  I was Googling “idols” and Francis Bacon’s Four Idols kept cropping up, so I read a bit about them and it seemed very difficult and complicated. Then I kept on reading about them and actually it’s not that difficult, in fact I think it’s really interesting.

 

As I said, Francis Bacon thought about thinking and, long before the birth of modern psychology, he understood that the human mind doesn’t always reason correctly. He argued that this fact needed to be understood before new ideas could be developed.  He advocated using inductive reasoning and experiments to gain insight and to prove or disprove a theory.

 

He wrote a book called Novum Organum and in it he outlined the Four Idols which (I think) basically described four major errors in mental processing that result in obstacles to new and innovative thinking.  I think they are called Idols because they relate to thoughts and preconceptions that individuals may hold dear and which are pretty difficult to shake without considerable effort and self-awareness (eg first conclusion bias and confirmation bias).  In the days of Trumpism, flat earthers, anti-vaxers, conspiracy-theorists, and downright liars it seems very relevant.  We could all learn from Francis.

 

He said, “the mind hastily and without choice, imbibes and treasures up the first notice of things, from whence all the rest proceed, errors must forever prevail, and remain uncorrected.”

 

Francis Bacon called his Four Idols: Idols of the Tribe, Idols of the Cave, Idols of the Marketplace and Idols of the Theatre.

 

Idol of the Tribe

This idol relates to human nature and how we assume that the way we first understand or perceive something must be correct.  He called these initial perceptions a “false mirror” because they distort and give a false image by mixing the individual’s own nature with the facts. 

 

Idol of the Cave

This idol lives in each person’s own cave or den and is a problem because it reflects things like their personal interests, enthusiasms, education, ideologies, conversations and who they admire.

 

Idol of the Marketplace

This idol uses words to mislead. “The ill and unfit choice of words wonderfully obstructs the understanding.” and “words plainly force and overrule the understanding, and throw all into confusion, and lead men away into numberless empty controversies and idle fancies.”

 

The Idol of the Theatre

This idol represents long received wisdom, tradition, negligence and errors that have persisted.  Francis Bacon argued that scientists must disregard the old ways so that progress can be made. “Truth must be reasoned from first principles.”

 

Bacon is celebrated for questioning the traditional scholarship of his time eg studying religious texts, Greek and Roman philosophers etc to re-discover lost knowledge.  Instead, he advocated recognising and overcoming the errors in mental processing and the use of inductive reasoning to discover new things.

 

So basically, Bacon’s Four Idols are the problems and barriers to thinking entirely new thoughts and developing new ideas from inception, especially in the field of science.  I’m actually really glad I hit upon this topic, entirely by accident and never having never heard of the Four Idols before.  I think in these times of science denial and fake news I am going to see a lot more of these false idols and hopefully recognise them when I come across them!