The Believing Brain

1. Beliefs shape our perception of reality, not the other way around

We form our beliefs for a variety of subjective, personal, emotional, and psychological reasons in the context of environments created by family, friends, colleagues, culture, and society at large; after forming our beliefs we then defend, justify, and rationalize them with a host of intellectual reasons, cogent arguments, and rational explanations.

Belief-dependent realism is the idea that our beliefs shape our perception of reality, rather than reality shaping our beliefs. This concept challenges the common assumption that we form beliefs based on objective evidence and rational thinking. Instead, our beliefs are influenced by:

• Personal experiences and emotions
• Family and cultural background
• Social environment and peer groups
• Psychological needs and cognitive biases

Once we form beliefs, we tend to:

• Seek out information that confirms our existing beliefs
• Dismiss or rationalize away contradictory evidence
• Develop intellectual arguments to justify our beliefs

This process creates a feedback loop where our beliefs continually reinforce themselves, making it difficult to change our minds or consider alternative viewpoints.

2. Our brains are wired for patternicity and agenticity

We can't help it. Our brains evolved to connect the dots of our world into meaningful patterns that explain why things happen.

Patternicity is the tendency to find meaningful patterns in both meaningful and meaningless data. Agenticity is the tendency to infuse patterns with meaning, intention, and agency. These two cognitive processes are fundamental to how our brains interpret the world around us.

Evolutionary advantages of patternicity and agenticity:

• Helped our ancestors identify threats and opportunities
• Allowed for quick decision-making in uncertain situations
• Facilitated social bonding and group cohesion

However, these processes can also lead to:

• False positives (Type I errors): Seeing patterns where none exist
• Superstitions and magical thinking
• Belief in conspiracy theories and supernatural agents

Understanding these tendencies can help us critically examine our beliefs and decision-making processes.

3. The brain's belief engine: Dopamine reinforces beliefs

Dopamine enhances the ability of neurons to transmit signals between one another.

The neuroscience of belief involves complex interactions in the brain, with dopamine playing a crucial role. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter associated with reward, motivation, and learning. In the context of beliefs:

• Dopamine reinforces neural pathways associated with belief formation
• It creates a sense of pleasure or reward when our beliefs are confirmed
• Higher dopamine levels may lead to increased pattern recognition and belief formation

Key aspects of the brain's belief engine:

• The ventromedial prefrontal cortex is active during belief processing
• The anterior cingulate cortex is involved in conflict resolution and error detection
• Mirror neurons may play a role in understanding and adopting others' beliefs

Understanding the neurological basis of belief formation can help us recognize the biological underpinnings of our convictions and potentially develop strategies to critically examine them.

4. Near-death and out-of-body experiences are products of the brain

These studies, and countless others, continue to rain blows down upon the dualist head that brain and mind are separate. They are not. They are one and the same.

Near-death experiences (NDEs) and out-of-body experiences (OBEs) are often cited as evidence for the existence of a soul or afterlife. However, scientific research suggests these phenomena are products of brain activity under extreme conditions.

Explanations for NDEs and OBEs:

• Oxygen deprivation (hypoxia) in the brain
• Release of endorphins and other neurotransmitters
• Temporal lobe stimulation or dysfunction
• REM-state intrusions during periods of stress

Key studies and findings:

• G-force-induced loss of consciousness (G-LOC) in pilots produces similar experiences to NDEs
• Electrical stimulation of the right angular gyrus can induce OBEs
• Brain scans of people experiencing NDEs show specific patterns of neural activity

While these experiences feel profoundly real to those who have them, the evidence suggests they are produced by the brain rather than indicating a separate consciousness or soul.

5. The human tendency to believe in God has evolutionary roots

We are natural-born immortalists.

The widespread belief in God and religious practices across human cultures suggests an evolutionary basis for these beliefs. Several factors contribute to this tendency:

Evolutionary advantages of religious belief:

• Promoted social cohesion and cooperation
• Provided explanations for natural phenomena
• Offered comfort in the face of mortality and uncertainty
• Encouraged prosocial behavior through fear of divine punishment

Cognitive mechanisms underlying religious belief:

• Theory of mind: The ability to attribute mental states to others, extended to supernatural beings
• Hyperactive agency detection: Tendency to attribute events to intentional agents
• Dualism: Intuitive separation of mind and body

Genetic and neuroscientific factors:

• Twin studies suggest a genetic component to religiosity
• Certain brain regions, such as the temporal lobe, are associated with religious experiences

Understanding the evolutionary and cognitive roots of religious belief can provide insight into its persistence and variability across cultures.

6. Conspiracy theories arise from our pattern-seeking nature

Conspiracy theories are a different breed of animal than conspiracies themselves.

Conspiracy theories are a manifestation of our pattern-seeking nature combined with cognitive biases and social factors. They often arise in response to complex or frightening events, offering seemingly simple explanations for difficult-to-understand phenomena.

Factors contributing to conspiracy belief:

• Patternicity: Seeing meaningful patterns in random or unconnected events
• Agenticity: Attributing intentional agency to impersonal forces or chance occurrences
• Need for control and understanding in uncertain situations
• Distrust of authorities or mainstream explanations
• Confirmation bias: Seeking information that supports pre-existing beliefs

Characteristics of conspiracy theories:

• Often unfalsifiable or resistant to contradictory evidence
• Involve complex, far-reaching plots
• Attribute extraordinary powers or competence to conspirators
• Explain significant events as the result of secret actions by powerful groups

While some conspiracies do exist, most conspiracy theories are unfounded. Understanding the psychological factors behind them can help us critically evaluate such claims.

7. Political beliefs stem from moral foundations and cognitive biases

Moral intuitions—reflected in such conservative-liberal stereotypes—are more emotional than rational.

Political beliefs are deeply rooted in moral intuitions and cognitive processes, rather than purely rational considerations. Research by Jonathan Haidt and others has identified five key moral foundations that shape political attitudes:

1. Care/harm
2. Fairness/reciprocity
3. In-group/loyalty
4. Authority/respect
5. Purity/sanctity

Liberals tend to emphasize the first two foundations, while conservatives place more equal weight on all five. This difference in moral intuitions leads to divergent political views and policy preferences.

Cognitive biases also play a role in shaping political beliefs:

• Confirmation bias: Seeking information that supports existing views
• Attribution bias: Explaining one's own beliefs rationally, others' emotionally
• Tribal bias: Favoring in-group members and ideas

Understanding these underlying factors can promote empathy and more productive political discourse.

8. Cognitive biases reinforce our existing beliefs

Once we make a decision about something in our lives we carefully screen subsequent data and filter out all contradictory information related to that decision, leaving only evidence in support of the choice we made.

Cognitive biases are systematic patterns of deviation from norm or rationality in judgment. They play a crucial role in reinforcing and maintaining our existing beliefs, often leading to errors in decision-making and judgment.

Key cognitive biases affecting beliefs:

• Confirmation bias: Seeking information that confirms existing beliefs
• Hindsight bias: Believing past events were predictable
• Self-justification bias: Rationalizing decisions after the fact
• Attribution bias: Explaining our own actions differently from others'
• Sunk-cost bias: Continuing to invest in something due to past investments
• Anchoring bias: Relying too heavily on one piece of information
• Availability heuristic: Overestimating the likelihood of events we can easily recall

Effects of cognitive biases on belief:

• Reinforce existing beliefs, making them resistant to change
• Lead to overconfidence in our judgments and decisions
• Create blind spots in our reasoning and decision-making processes

Recognizing these biases is the first step in mitigating their effects and developing more rational, evidence-based beliefs.

Last updated: January 23, 2025