The Idol of the Tribe [Rethink 2]

Philosophy consists of contemplation and questions aimed at understanding humanity and the world. Let us move toward becoming a human being who thinks again.

Bacon, who sought to understand the world scientifically and establish objective knowledge, identified "humanity's flawed perception" as the greatest obstacle. He termed these distortions "idols" (idola), using the word not as mere metaphor, but as a direct parallel to religious blindness: just as people blindly revere false gods, humanity unquestioningly follows illusions of its own making.

The Limits Inherent to the "Human" Tribe

Among the four classes of idols proposed by Bacon—the 16th- and 17th-century English philosopher and statesman—the Idol of the Tribe (idola tribus) comes first for good reason. While the Idols of the Cave, Marketplace, and Theater stem from individual bias, language, or dogmatic traditions, the Idol of the Tribe is rooted in human nature itself.

The Idol of the Tribe refers to the tendency to treat humanity as the measure of all things. Bacon argued that to understand reality accurately, an inquirer must transcend innate human bias. The human species, by its very biological and cognitive makeup, is prone to distortion.

Countless species inhabit this earth, yet humans interpret everything through an anthropocentric lens. Aristotle prioritized humans over other animals based on our capacity for reason; Bacon, however, recognized that this self-centered framing obstructs objective inquiry. Human perception is heavily swayed by emotion—hope, fear, prejudice, and impatience constantly color our view of reality.

Modern scientific instruments allow us to overcome sensory and cognitive limitations, drastically reducing human error. In Bacon’s era, however, scientific tools were rudimentary, leaving inquiry far more vulnerable to innate cognitive distortions.

Losing Your Way to Find Yourself [Book Introduction]

This book invites readers into the timeless questions that define human existence — “Who am I?”, “Why was I born?”, and “Why must I live?” For those who carry deep and restless questions, Losing Your Way to Find Yourself offers a moment of quiet contemplation — a pause between one step and the next.

바스락 basolock김대근 DAEGEUN KIM

Witch Hunts and Confirmation Bias

The witch hunts — one of the most notorious events to occur in the West — can also be understood through the Idol of the Tribe. In a world rife with widespread anxiety and mistrust of others, all blame was placed on "witches." In truth, the root of the problem was not the witches themselves, but the collective human belief that created the "witch" as an idol in the first place. The Idol of the Tribe is not a story of the past.

Even today, the groupthink formed on social media, and confirmation bias — selectively accepting only information that reinforces one's own beliefs — operate on the very same structure. The spread of fake news, too, rests on the Idol of the Tribe. The era may have changed, but the pattern of humans blindly following idols they themselves have collectively created repeats itself.

People get swept up in a social atmosphere where, even knowing something is wrong, they cannot say so. Even if a belief is false, when many people share it and act according to it, they come to regard it as truth without even realizing it — and end up ruthlessly attacking any criticism or doubt directed at it. When a particular group considers everything it does or thinks to be right, or claims that whatever it believes is truth, that is dogmatism — and it is when a group asserts such dogmatism that social tragedy begins.

Judging whether one's own belief is false is difficult, because people usually try to rationalize themselves or compromise with themselves. Humans are, at times, animals that deceive themselves even while knowing something is false. Groundless beliefs are ones we ourselves have cultivated — yet saying "everyone else believes it too" is nothing more than an expression of refusing to take responsibility for one's own actions. That is why we must always be able to ask ourselves: "Is my belief correct?"

Like Bacon's project of destroying the idols held by the "human" tribe in order to properly grasp the essence of things, we need a thorough examination of whether our own knowledge is a hollow belief. Because we are human, we can be blind. But because we are human, we can also question our own thoughts and actions — and because we are human, we can correct false beliefs. Only such a human can break free from idols and finally become a being that truly thinks for itself.

The Idol of the Cave [Rethink 3]

Francis Bacon classified the mind’s flaws into the “Four Idols,” among which the “Idol of the Cave” (idola specus) represents individual bias. Shaped by narrow experience, habit, and disposition, this inner cave quietly warps how we see the world.

바스락 basolock김대근 DAEGEUN KIM

[2] Why I Began Thinking This Way

The questions kept multiplying. If I don’t know who I am, how can I live as myself? If I can’t live in a way that is truly mine, does my life have any meaning? Then what does it mean to be “myself”? What does it mean to live? And what does it mean to live meaningfully?

바스락 basolock김대근 DAEGEUN KIM