February 22, 2020: “Mad” Mike Hughes towed a homemade rocket into the Mojave Desert and took to the skies. His goal? View the plane of the Earth from space. This was his third attempt and, unfortunately, it turned out to be fatal. Hughes crashed shortly after takeoff and was killed.
Hughes' nickname, “Mad Mike,” may seem appropriate. Isn't it crazy to risk your life fighting for a theory that has been disproved in ancient greece?
But Hughes's conviction, while astonishing, is not unique. In all recorded culturesPeople held strong beliefs that seemed to lack evidence to support them—what might be called “extraordinary beliefs.”
For evolutionary anthropologists like methe widespread prevalence of such beliefs is a mystery. The human brain has evolved to form accurate models of the world. Most of the time we do a pretty good job. So why do people often accept and develop beliefs that lack compelling evidence?
In a new review from the journal Trends in Cognitive Sciences I offer a simple answer. People believe in a flat earth, spirits, and microchip vaccines for the same reasons they believe in anything else. Their experiences lead them to think that these beliefs are true.
Theories of extraordinary beliefs
Most sociologists take a different view on this issue. Supernatural Beliefs, conspiracy theories And pseudoscience appeared to researchers to be completely impervious to contrary evidence. Therefore, they suggested that experience is irrelevant to the formation of these beliefs. Instead, they focused on two other explanatory factors.
The first common explanation is cognitive biases. Many psychologists argue that humans have the mental capacity to reason about how the world works. For example, people are very likely to see intentions and intelligence behind random events. This kind of bias may explain why people often believe that deities control phenomena such as weather or disease.
Second factor social dynamics: People accept certain beliefs not because they are sure of their truth, but because other people hold these beliefs or want to communicate something about themselves to others. For example, some conspiracy theorists may embrace strange beliefs because they beliefs come with community loyal and supportive fellow believers.
Both of these approaches may partly explain how people come to have unusual beliefs. But they do not take into account three ways in which experience, in combination with two other factors, can form salient beliefs.
1. Experience working as a filter
First, I suggest that experience can act as a filter. It determines which unusual beliefs can successfully spread through the population.
Let's take the flat earth theory as an example. We know with absolute certainty that this is a lie, but it is no more or less false than the theory that the Earth is shaped like a cone. So what makes a flat earth so much more successful than this equally flawed alternative?
The answer is as obvious as it sounds: The Earth looks flat, not cone-shaped, when you stand on it. Visual evidence favors one extraordinary belief over others. Of course, scientific evidence clearly shows that the Earth is round; but it's not surprising that some people prefer to trust what their eyes tell them.
2. Experience is like a spark
My second argument is that experience serves as the spark for extraordinary beliefs. Strange experiences such as auditory hallucinations are difficult to explain and understand. So people do their best to explain them, and in doing so they develop beliefs that seem quite strange.
For this path sleep paralysis is a good example. Sleep paralysis occurs between sleep and wakefulness – you feel that you are awake, but cannot move or speak. It's terrible and quite general. And what's interesting is that patients usually feel that there is threatening agent sitting on their chest.
As a scientist, I interpret sleep paralysis as a result of nervous confusion. But it is not difficult to imagine how a person without a scientific background – that is, almost every person in history – could interpret this experience as evidence of supernatural beings.
3. Experience as a tool
What's especially intriguing to me is the third potential route to extraordinary belief. In many cases, people don't just develop unusual beliefs; they develop immersive practices that make those beliefs feel true.
For example, imagine that you are a farmer living in the highlands of Lesotho in southern Africa, where I am conducting ethnographic fieldwork. You've had a series of miscarriages and want to know why. So, you go to a traditional healer – she tells you that you can find out the answer from your ancestors by drinking hallucinogenic drink. You drink the decoction. Soon after this you begin to see spirits; they talk to you and explain your unhappiness.
Obviously, such experiences can strengthen your belief in the existence of spirits. Immersive practices such as prayer, ritual dance And religious use of psychoactive substances – create evidence that makes the relevant beliefs true.
What's next?
Extraordinary beliefs are not inherently good or bad. In particular, religious beliefs provide meaning, security and a sense of community for billions of people.
But some unusual beliefs raise serious concerns: misinformation about science And policy is rampant and extremely dangerous. By understanding how these beliefs are shaped by experience, researchers can find better ways to fight their spread.
Equally important, however, is that the perspective I offer can promote greater compassion and kinship toward people who hold beliefs that are very different from yours. They are not “crazy” or insincere. Like anyone else, they think the evidence is on their side.
This article has been republished from Talka nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trusted analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. He was written by: Eli Elster, University of California, Davis
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Eli Elster does not work for, consult for, own shares in, or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations other than his academic position.
