On Epistemic Black Holes. How Self-Sealing Belief Systems Develop and Evolve

Are some belief systems so attractive and resilient that even a rational person may fall into their orbit, despite the absence of any evidence in their favor? In this paper we describe the existence of ‘epistemic black holes’, belief systems about intelligent agents that are deliberately evading detection and thus sabotaging any possible investigation into their existence. Such epistemic black holes can exert an exceptionally strong attraction on unwitting believers, even on rational people. We describe the outlines of epistemic black holes in a range of different domains: politics, history, psychology, and religion. Because of their self-sealing character, however, epistemic black holes suffer from a recurring problem of arbitrariness and proliferating alternatives, and they tend to develop and evolve in analogous ways. Shedding light on how epistemic black holes function can protect us against their allure