Reminds me a bit of the 10th man idea from World War Z. Basically, if all 9 members of a council unanimously agreed on something, it was the 10th man's duty to act as if that thing was a certainty and prepare for it.

This all really plays into argumentative theory [0], which is the basic idea that human reason developed as an argumentative tool. Its main function isn't "true" or "logical" ideas, but rather persuasion and defense thereof. One major conclusion is that reason often works to reinforce existent ideals against external challenge, regardless of the merit of those ideas.

[0] http://evolution.binghamton.edu/evos/wp-content/uploads/2011...