@NealNealNeal,
I think I agree with all three with clarification.
Point 2 typically refers to such things as indoctrination, though I've willingly embraced some goofy conspiracy theories in my day.
My clarification would be that it is better to have a mind capable of making decisions than either an indoctrinated mind or one unable to question regional assumptions.
I stayed with these guys in Illinois. They ate corn, boiled, and other vegetables, stir fried. It's like they couldn't think of any other way to cook than the one they'd known. I like living in the country, but every now and then you should do stuff that's fun. One night, I used the vegetables to make some pasta. I ate the corn in a milkshake.
And that even if you won't accept you're wrong about something, making minor adjustments to theory is loads better than being hardwired to ignore inconsistencies in your thoughts, or cannot tolerate opposing viewpoints.
There was this guy that was in an anime club with me, I think. He met me in a restaurant by chance on day, and we chatted about geek stuff. At one point in his conversation he talked about how human beings are like robots, they get to a point where something switches them off, and after that everything said just filters out. I maintained that humans have free will and a soul. He was like, "you're Christian aren't you?" And then I saw the light go out for him, as he filtered out everything I said. This is what supposedly he thought only other people did, and now he was walking away in disgust without hearing me.
We'd talked about everything from genetics and robotics to energy beings to comic characters and magic. But spiritual reality was a bridge too far.