The collective consensus which you call "not really there" is actually the belief of the people who have the power to influence the society. I think that's why people are so interested in it - because it matters for government policy, who people vote for, etc. which affects everyone.
When the collective consensus said that infant formula was as good as breast milk, it led to a lot of babies being fed that. Then the collective consensus reversed and a lot of babies got breast milk instead. Those babies grew up to be people like you and me with all the possible lifelong good or harm that might have come from whatever the collective consensus at the time was. People like mothers and nurses who implemented it did so even if they didn't really believe it. That's the power of collective consensus - to influence just about everyone. Denial is punished socially so people conform rather than act on their own beliefs, however well informed.
Yes. Beliefs/stories are real, in so far as individuals do have them, and will act on them. But characterising a 'fact' as 'true', believing it, saying it is so, does not make it actually true. It is in this sense that I meant "not really there" - there is no verifiable reality to the thing that one can confirm.
When the collective consensus said that infant formula was as good as breast milk, it led to a lot of babies being fed that. Then the collective consensus reversed and a lot of babies got breast milk instead. Those babies grew up to be people like you and me with all the possible lifelong good or harm that might have come from whatever the collective consensus at the time was. People like mothers and nurses who implemented it did so even if they didn't really believe it. That's the power of collective consensus - to influence just about everyone. Denial is punished socially so people conform rather than act on their own beliefs, however well informed.