Why Education Doesn’t Protect You from Godmen

Intelligence and critical thinking aren’t the same thing

We often assume that education protects people from superstition. The logic seems simple: the more educated you are, the more likely you are to question extraordinary claims. But reality doesn’t quite work that way. Wealthy professionals, engineers, doctors, and even IIT graduates can become followers of godmen. So if education isn’t enough, what exactly makes an educated person believe in a “miracle”?

One problem is that being educated and being capable of critical thinking are not the same thing. Our education system is very good at teaching students how to remember things, pass exams, get degrees, and build careers. But how often are we actually taught to question assumptions, examine evidence, identify logical fallacies, or develop a scientific temper? Someone can spend years studying engineering and still have very little practice questioning a spiritual claim made with confidence by an authority figure.

Then there is something even deeper: we are trained to respect authority from childhood. We are told to listen to our parents, teachers, elders, religious figures, and anyone who is considered “knowledgeable.” Questioning them can even be treated as disrespect. Eventually, this becomes a habit. So when a godman confidently claims that he can read someone’s mind, cure an illness, predict the future, or perform a miracle, the natural response for many people isn’t, “How did you do that?” It’s, “He must know something I don’t.”

And education doesn’t eliminate our need for meaning. In fact, the modern educated middle class may have its own reasons for being attracted to godmen. Life can become an endless cycle of work, deadlines, EMIs, family responsibilities, and social expectations. You earn more, buy more, achieve more—and yet something still feels missing. Modern godmen understand this perfectly. They sell a version of spirituality that says you don’t have to reject wealth or ambition. You can be successful, wealthy, spiritual, and peaceful at the same time. That’s a pretty attractive package for someone exhausted by the race.

There is also the uncomfortable subject of mental health. Being educated doesn’t automatically remove the stigma around therapy or psychiatry. Many people who would happily spend thousands on a doctor still hesitate to tell someone that they are struggling with anxiety, loneliness, grief, or emotional stress. A godman can step into that gap without making the person feel like they are seeking “mental-health treatment.” He listens, gives advice, offers certainty, and makes the follower feel understood. In many cases, he becomes a kind of pseudo-psychologist or life coach, except without the evidence-based training.

Then comes one of the most powerful traps of all: confirmation bias. Suppose a thousand people visit a godman. One person later says, “He cured me.” That one story will travel everywhere. It becomes a testimonial, a WhatsApp forward, a YouTube video, perhaps even proof of divine power. But what about the other 999 people who saw no miracle? Nobody makes a viral video about them. Their stories disappear.

This is how even otherwise logical people can become convinced. They don’t necessarily see the complete evidence. They see a carefully selected collection of stories that appears to confirm what they already believe.

And that’s the uncomfortable truth: a degree doesn’t make you rational. An IIT tag doesn’t make you immune to cognitive biases. Money doesn’t make you intellectually independent.

Education can give you knowledge. But critical thinking is a habit.

You can know how a computer works and still believe someone can read your mind. You can understand physics and still believe a baba has supernatural powers. You can be brilliant at mathematics and terrible at evaluating evidence.

The real question, therefore, isn’t “How educated are you?”

It’s “How willing are you to question something you desperately want to be true?”

Because that’s where superstition usually becomes difficult to defeat—not in the absence of intelligence, but in the presence of hope, fear, authority, and the human desire for certainty.

Thank you for reading 🙏

Ajit