Here's a great quote that I came across today on Lesswrong.com from Robin Hanson (By the way, he's an econonmist so as an economics major I just want to say that I have an automatic bias in his favor!).
"Most abstract beliefs most people have make pretty much no difference to their actions. They hold those beliefs not to advise action but to help them think and talk about interesting topics, so they can win friends (and mates and employers) and influence people. For these purposes, changing their minds may well not usually be a good deal."
You can see the article he was responding to here:
http://lesswrong.com/lw/gq/the_proper_use_of_humility/
