Why Do People Believe Strange Things?

I often ask myself, why do people believe strange things? The more I think about it, the more I realize this: People don't believe things because they're true, they believe them because they're useful.

So then, this raises another question: Useful for what? That's what we need to try to understand and address.

"They're ignorant" becomes a more compassionate question: What need are they trying to meet? And then, maybe: How can that need be met in a better way?