Knowing’s Cheaper Than Believing

That which can and that which can’t
Be easily updated,
Comfortably modified—

Correct an entry, curt nod
Of the head, now let’s move on—
History, ethnography

Brim with contrasting accounts—
The guns accepted quickly,
The acknowledgment of maps,

Contrasted with deep beliefs
In how divinity works,
What types of humans are good.

It’s not only that some facts
Become obvious, while some
Claims linger on in dim gaps—

That which can be falsified,
That which can’t be disproven.
Who you know yourself to be,

The value of your people,
The value of their values,
Every one of those beliefs

Requires some amputation,
Some grisly disfigurement
To surrender. Should someone

Point out a useful shortcut,
Demonstrate a clever tool,
Or hand you a new weapon,

You’ll find your own resistance
At a minimum. It works.
Facts is facts. Thanks for the tip.

If there’s an implication,
Much less an outright demand,
You abandon tradition,

Change languages, turn your back
On your parents’ politics,
Worldview, religion,

In view of superior
Force or even factual
Emendation, that’s different.

Shamans with rifles, young Earth
Christians on lunar missions,
Nothing surprising to them.

But those few who’ve given up,
For fact, some core conviction,
Seem tormented, inhuman.