"When we go through life thinking we individually have got it all figured out , it can lead to a eared and simplistic veiw of the world. My way is perfect. Yours is crazy or evil. We can't eradicate false belief but things can improve if we practice intellectual humility & open our mind. If we realise SOME OF THOSE FALSE BELIEFS RESIDE IN OUR OWN COMMUNITY AND RECOGNIZE JUST HOW MUCH OF WHAT WE BELIEVE DEPENDS ON THOSE AROUND US"
I posted a little about anthropologist Daniel Everett on another thread about Amber Scorah, and how their experiences as "failed" missionaries, although from different Christian fundamentalist religions, tallied in so many ways. They both had to disguise their illegal proselytizing as an endeavour to teach and learn the local language.
Neither converted anyone but themselves ...or rather deconverted since they are now both atheists.But what I found most interesting was their take on being with people so vastly different from the group's they were used to, and how it opened their eyes to a whole new way of thinking.
The Pirahã people Don't have fixed words for colour or a number system and couldn't understand, for instance, why Daniel would come to tell them about someone neither he nor any of his family or ancestors had ever known! Neither do they have a concept for war or personal property. I highly recommend Daniels TED talk and book " Don't Sleep; there are Snakes"