INCREDULOUS

[Dr. Goodword]

• incredulous •

Pronunciation: in-kred-jê-lês •Hear it!

Part of Speech: Adjective

Meaning: Skeptical, suspicious, unwilling to believe.

Notes: Today's word is very similar to another word sharing the same origin, incredible. It means "not to be believed, beyond belief". Careful not to confuse the two. The noun that accompanies today's word is incredulity [in-kred-ju-lê-ti], as to greet an incredible story with incredulity.

In Play: People are incredulous, stories are incredible: "It would be incredible if Denise Hirt became a great skier, but I remain incredulous until I see her in action." This adjective is usually accompanied by the preposition of or at when it takes an object: "Sandy Beech was incredulous at the prospects of snow in Florida until it filled his hot tub."

Word History: Today's word is the English adaptation of Latin incredulus with the same meaning. It is made up of in- "not" + credulus "believing, trustful", an adjective from the verb credere "to believe". The first person singular of credere is credo "I believe", used today in its original form, credo "belief" and nativized as creed "a system of belief". Etymologists tend to believe that the Latin root came from an older derivation kerd-dhe- "to believe", based on kerd- "heart", possibly from the sense of putting one's heart into something. This speculation is supported by a Sanskrit derivation srad-dha- "faith". Kerd- is the source of English heart, German Herz, French coeur, Portuguese coração, Spanish corazón, and Russian serdce, among others—all meaning "heart".

[MTC]

The antonym "credulous" is worth mentioning; gullible, easily disposed to believe. The most interesting thing in this instance, however, is not the words themselves, but the Psychology of Belief: Why do we believe? The late Nobel Laureate Richard Feynman said: “The first principle is that you must not fool yourself, and you are the easiest person to fool”. Yet we all know from personal experience that people are disposed to believe some things and not others, the evidence notwithstanding. "Don't confuse me with the facts!" Ever try to convince a Biblical Fundamentalist that the world was created in more than 7 days, or a suicide bomber that he will not be rewarded in the afterlife with seventy-two virgins for his sacrifice? But we don't have to visit the extremes to find examples--just look in the mirror. (myself included) Bias is an unconscious phenomenon experiments amply demonstrate. As a lawyer I have always been amused by the legal systems' futile efforts to remove bias from the decision making process. In many cases we believe because we are disposed to believe consciously or unconsciously, not because of the facts.

[LukeJavan8]

Just a comment on the word itself: another of
the superlatives used by the media in their constant
barrage of tripe to get viewers to watch their brand
of reporting; along with bizarre, incredible, etc.