TK TK The Psychology of False Beliefs

<p>Truth and accuracy &mdash; however, are not the only things that matter to the human mind. Humans appear to have a strong urge to belong!</p> <p>What exactly is going on here?</p> <p>Why don&rsquo;t facts persuade us?</p> <p>And why would somebody continue to believe a misleading or inaccurate idea in the first place?</p> <p>How do such actions benefit us?</p> <p>&ldquo;The most complex subjects can be described to the most slow-witted man if he has no prior knowledge of them; but the simplest thing cannot be communicated to the most clever man if he is absolutely convinced that he already knows, without a shadow of doubt, what is set before him.&rdquo;</p> <p>To survive, humans require a somewhat accurate vision of the world. If your picture of reality is vastly different from reality, you will struggle to take productive activities every day.</p> <p>&ldquo;Humans are herd animals,&rdquo; written in Atomic Habits &mdash; We want to fit in, make friends, and gain the respect and acceptance of our peers. Such tendencies are necessary for our survival!!</p> <p>Our ancestors lived in tribes for the most of our evolutionary history. Separation from the tribe, or worse, expulsion, was a death sentence.&rdquo;</p> <blockquote> <p>Understanding the truth of a situation is important, but so is remaining part of a tribe. While these two desires often work well together, they occasionally come into conflict.</p> </blockquote> <p>In many circumstances, social connection is actually more helpful to your daily life than understanding the truth of a particular fact or idea.</p> <p>The Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker put it this way, &ldquo;People are embraced or condemned according to their beliefs, so one function of the mind may be to hold beliefs that bring the belief-holder the greatest number of allies, protectors, or disciples, rather than beliefs that are most likely to be true.&rdquo;</p> <blockquote> <p>We don&rsquo;t always believe things because they are correct. Sometimes we believe things because they make us look good to the people we care about.</p> </blockquote> <p>I thought Kevin Simler put it well when he wrote, &ldquo;If a brain anticipates that it will be rewarded for adopting a particular belief, it&rsquo;s perfectly happy to do so, and doesn&rsquo;t much care where the&hellip;</p> <p><a href="https://medium.com/raising-a-beautiful-mind/the-psychology-of-false-beliefs-4ea2a8db97bc"><strong>Read More</strong></a></p>