This is so true. I am very grateful for taking an introduction to critical thinking class in college where you learn about determining the validity of a premise, and how crucial that is for establishing a likely conclusion. Deductive reasoning only works effectively if you follow those steps properly. If you skip over the true premise, then the conclusion is flawed. Bayesian reasoning also works in a parallel manner.
As you correctly pointed out, so many will allow the belief to go unchallenged and it becomes a form of blindness. The more one has invested in the belief, the more the pattern is perpetuated.