There is always a certain amount of 'we are going to act as if this is true, whether or not we believe it is' going on. One example is the Divine Right of Kings. This doctrine gained strength in the 1600s in Europe. I do not believe for a moment that my ancestors thought that God really was ensuring that the person who deserved to be king -- the best person for the job -- was born to the role. People who honestly thought that God had given them the rulers they had, on purpose, would be calling on their citiizens to don sackcloth, fast, and repent their evil ways more or less non-stop until we deserved better rulers. But the experience of bloody wars over inheritance in the prior centuries taught everybody the downside of having a civil war every time the king died.
Right now you are questioning the 'honesty is the best policy' principle. That is another shared belief that we are probably better off acting as if it is true, instead of working out under what circumstances it is beneficial to deceive one another.
There is always a certain amount of 'we are going to act as if this is true, whether or not we believe it is' going on. One example is the Divine Right of Kings. This doctrine gained strength in the 1600s in Europe. I do not believe for a moment that my ancestors thought that God really was ensuring that the person who deserved to be king -- the best person for the job -- was born to the role. People who honestly thought that God had given them the rulers they had, on purpose, would be calling on their citiizens to don sackcloth, fast, and repent their evil ways more or less non-stop until we deserved better rulers. But the experience of bloody wars over inheritance in the prior centuries taught everybody the downside of having a civil war every time the king died.
Right now you are questioning the 'honesty is the best policy' principle. That is another shared belief that we are probably better off acting as if it is true, instead of working out under what circumstances it is beneficial to deceive one another.