3. J. Gleick, “Information Everything,” Discover, July 8, 2011; see also E. Pennisi, “Will Computers Crash Genomics?” Science 331 (2011): 666–68.
4. P. Maass, “How the Media Inflated a Minor Moment in a Long War,” New Yorker, January 10, 2011; see also N. Carr, The Shallows (New York: Atlantic, 2011).
5. J. H. Billington, “The Unrealized Potential of the Internet,” Bohemian Club Library Notes 134 (Winter 2005); see also Carr, Shallows.
6. Sparrow, 2011. Source lost.
7. J. Rosen, “The End of Forgetting,” New York Times Magazine, July 25, 2010.
8. N. Bilton, I Live for the Future & Here’s How It Works: Why Your World, Work, and Brain Are Being Creatively Disrupted (New York: Crown, 2010).
9. L. Tiger, Men in Groups (New York: Random House, 1969); see also T. Sharot et al., “Neural Mechanisms Mediating Optimism Bias,” Nature 450 (2007): 102–105.
10. P. Webb. “Science Education and Literacy: Imperatives for the Developed and Developing World,” Science 328 (2010): 448–50.
11. A. Stirling, “Keep It Complex,” Nature 468 (2010): 1029–31; see also R. Schenkel, “The Challenge of Feeding Scientific Advice into Policy-Making,” Science 330 (2010): 1749–51.
12. S. Halpern, “Mind Control & the Internet,” New York Review, June 23, 2011; and E. Pariser, The Filter Bubble: What the Internet Is Hiding from You (New York: Penguin, 2011).
13. Halpern, “Mind Control & the Internet.”
14. D. Fox, “Brain Buzz,” Nature 472 (2011): 156–58.
15. L. Tiger and M. McGuire, God’s Brain (Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 2010).
16. K. Ohlson, “The End of Morality,” Discover, July 8, 2010.
17. E. Dias-Ferreira et al., “Chronic Stress Causes Frontostriatal Reorganization and Affects Decision Making,” Science 325 (2009): 621–25.
18. R. Dawkins, The God Delusion (New York: Bantam Books, 2006); see also S. Harris, The Moral Landscape (New York: Free Press, 2010).
19. J. T. Fraser, Time, Conflict, and Human Values (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1999).
20. S. Ozawa et al., “Coseismic and Postseismic Slip of the 2011 Magnitude-9 Tohoku-Oki Earthquake,” Nature 475 (2011): 373–76.
21. Webb, “Science Education and Literacy”; see also M. A. Korb and U. Thakkar, “Facilitating Scientific Investigations and Training Data Scientists,” Science 333 (2011): 534–35.
22. E. Schrecker, The Lost Soul of Higher Education: Corporatization, the Assault on Academic Freedom, and the End of the American University (New York: New Press, 2010); see also D. Ravich, The Death and Life of the Great American School System (New York: Basic Books, 2010); and H. Radder, The Commodification of Academic Research (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2010).
23. K. Thomas, “What Are Universities For?” Times Literary Supplement, May 7, 2010; see also M. S. Nussbaum, “Skills for Life,” Times Literary Supplement, April 30, 2010.
24. J. Rasenberger, America, 1908 (New York: Scribner, 2007).
25. M. Hoffmann et al., “The Impact of Conservation on the Status of the World’s Vertebrates,” Science 330 (2010): 1503–1509; see also H. M. Pereira et al., “Scenarios for Global Biodiversity in the 21st Century,” Science 330 (2010): 1496–1501; C. J. Vorosmarry et al., “Global Threats to Human Water Security and River Biodiversity,” Nature 467 (2010): 555–61; M. A. Palmer, “Beyond Infrastructure,” Nature 467 (2010): 534–35; J. M. Drake and B. D. Griffen, “Early Warning Signals of Extinction in Deteriorating Environments,” Nature 467 (2010): 456–59; and A. D. Barnosky et al., “Has the Earth’s Sixth Mass Extinction Already Arrived? Nature 471 (2011): 51–57.
CHAPTER 18. WHAT TO DO?
1. J. Mervis, “Report Alters Definition of What Students Should Learn,” Science 333 (2011): 510; see also M. A. Korb and U. Thakkar, “Facilitating Scientific Investigations and Training Data Scientists,” Science 333 (2011): 534–35; P. Hines et al., “Laying the Foundation for Lifetime Learning,” Science 333 (2011): 951–83; and M. Ridley, The Rational Optimist (New York: Harper, 2010).
2. S. Harris, The Moral Landscape (New York: Free Press, 2010); see also M. Shermer, The Believing Brain (New York: Times Books, 2011); and P. Hefner, “It’s All about Transforming Minds,” Zygon 40 (2005): 263–66.
Aboriginals, Australian, 77–79
abstract reasoning, 201
action, 63, 64, 69, 123, 125, 133, 149, 156, 163, 187
actions that backfire, 141
and awareness, 105
and beliefs, 22, 27–28, 118–19, 139
connected with pleasure/displeasure, 140, 149, 175
emotion-action association, 140
intentional action, 37
on-the-spot actions, 69
and stories, 172–73
activation hypothesis, 124, 125
ADHD. See attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
Africa, Homo sapiens migrating out of, 141–42
African Americans, intelligence of, 45
aftereffects of beliefs, 27–28
afterlife, 90, 95–96, 151
after-the-fact reasoning, 37
agenticity. See attributes
age of faith vs. age of reason, 203
Agrippa von Nettesheim, Henricus Cornelius, 54
Alabama, and antievolution, 52
Albertus Magnus, Saint, 54
alchemy as pseudoscience, 24, 54
alcohol and the brain, 111
aliens from another planet, 33, 54
al-Qaeda, reaction to after 9/11, 197
alternative beliefs, 29, 52, 191, 193–94, 195
ambiguity, 18, 36, 112, 182, 191, 192, 197, 201, 202
overlapping of ambiguity and uncertainty, 143, 150–52 (see also uncertainty)
American myth, 45–46, 207–208
American Psychiatric Association, 73
amygdala, 107, 109, 136, 152, 187
analogous models, 177
analysis, 38
analytical skills, 38, 131, 212
anger, 107, 110, 135, 139
personal injury, repaying those who cause, 175–76
animal abuse, 197–99
Animal Liberation (Singer), 30
animal psi as pseudoscience, 53, 54
animal rights, 194
Antarctica, 27, 210
anterior cingulate cortex, 109
anterior insula, 111
antidepressant drugs, 111
antievolution bills in states, 52
anxiety, 10, 19, 63, 95, 105, 110, 174, 179
Aristotle, 101
Arnaldus de Villeneuve, 54
assimilation of dogma, 197
associations, 92, 143, 197, 207
associational learning, 134
pleasure-based associations, 175
astrology as pseudoscience, 53, 54–55
Aswan Dam, construction of, 32
atheism, 193, 205
attention, illusion of, 64–65
attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), 195
attributes, 37, 72, 82, 102, 136, 144, 153, 154, 161–64, 184, 208, 209
agenticity, 37, 82, 162
internal attributions, 163
negative attributions, 191, 194, 195
and stories/models, 169, 172, 178
auditory hallucinations, 84–85, 92
Augustine, Saint, 101
Aum Shinrikyo cult, 193
authority, 37, 65, 66, 80, 83
and intransigent beliefs, 191
and religion, 18, 88, 89, 90, 97, 98
and science, 91, 94–95, 97
stories having, 173
automatic response, 118–19
awareness, 62, 69, 125, 206
and ambiguity and uncertainty, 151
and beliefs and divides, 107, 117–25, 126
and the brain, 49, 107, 111, 112, 117, 119, 124–25, 129, 145, 152, 154, 156, 186
and dualism, 105–106
and emotion, 109–10, 112
experience in awareness, 103, 105– 106, 117, 121, 123–25, 154, 155, 180
and free will, 121–23
and mirroring, 160
and monism, 103, 104
novel states of, 146
and triggering, 179–80, 181, 183–84
See also consciousness
Bacon, Francis, 68, 80, 94
balance scales, model of, 176
Bavarian Illuminati Conspiracy of 1798, 170
Beckett, Samuel, 44
Behaim, Martin, 50
behavior
avoiding behavior associated with displeasure, 175
behavior expectations, 26
and beliefs, 18, 22, 34
disconnected from belief, 10
the illusion that beliefs cause, 117
myths-beliefs embedded in, 49
in vervet monkeys, 12–13
creating rules for in Saint Kitts, 167–68
explaining behavior of self and others (attribution), 161–64
guided by common-sense wisdom, 63–64
and habit, 174, 208
and indoctrination by others, 194, 195
of infant monkeys denied maternal care, 156–57
learned behavior, 181, 182
model-related influences on, 174, 175–76
modification of, 195
novel behavior, 134
positive impact of religious behaviors, 95
punishment for wayward behavior, 30
repeat behavior associated with pleasure, 175
responses to social stimuli/triggers, 181–86
social behavior, 26
stories causing, 172–73
triggering in animals, 180
beliefs, 18–19, 29–30, 202
and action, 22, 27–28, 118–19, 139
aftereffects of, 27–28
alternative beliefs, 29, 52, 191, 193–94, 195
rejection of during indoctrination, 193–94
and ambiguity and uncertainty, 151
associated with prediction and action, 139
and attributions, 163
in authority, 88, 89
and awareness, 124–25
basic mistakes characteristic of, 37
becoming personalized, 209
and behavior, 18, 22, 34
disconnected from belief, 10
the illusion that beliefs cause, 117
myths-beliefs embedded in customs and behavior, 49
in vervet monkeys, 12–13
belief acceptance and longevity, 56
belief change, 204
belief contagion, 187
belief creation, 201, 213
belief-disconfirmation failure, 201–202, 212
belief fragmentation, 204, 207–209, 210, 212
belief generalization, 149
belief overload, 205–207
belief perseverance, 192 (see also intransigent beliefs)
belief-related reasoning, 111
biology of, 129–42
and the brain
belief and divides require a brain, 110–11
and belief creation, 213
beliefs about others’ brain states, 153–59
beliefs stored in the brain (representation), 106–108, 123–25, 126, 145, 183, 211, 213
brain systems that contribute to, 203–204
creating, confirming, and disconfirming beliefs, 49
prepared to believe, 202
as products of brain systems, 144
storing beliefs in, 106–108
systems that contribute to, 203–204
ways it biases perceptions and beliefs, 37
and brain reading, 157, 158
causal beliefs, 96
as a cause of an action, 22, 27–28, 118–19
changing of, 201–202, 211
choosing from a menu, 119–20
conflicting beliefs, 27, 74–75, 161
consequences and beliefs, 27–28, 31–32
conversion from one belief to another, 24, 174
creation and storage of, 126
and culture, 135–36
cultural myths-beliefs, 43–46, 48–55, 110, 197, 207–208
“deeply held belief,” 79, 112, 192 (see also intransigent beliefs)
defending beliefs, 37
defying conventional reason, 36
disconfirmation-belief failure, 201–202, 212
dispersion of, 141–42
and emotions, 109–10, 202
erroneous beliefs, 63
and evidence, 31, 89
altering beliefs, 213
beliefs without supporting evidence, 212
believing in advance of having evidence, 67
brain having minimal regard for evidence, 39
defending myths irrespective of evidence, 48
distance between a belief and assessment of evidence related to belief (see divides)
doing something has merit even without evidence, 33
finding supporting evidence, 37–38
imagination without evidence, 52
interpreting and preserving beliefs, 80–84
persisting contrary to evidence, 9–10, 18, 70
without supporting evidence, 212
evolution of beliefs and divides, 132–41
experiencing belief, 19, 21, 22, 79, 83, 110, 118
leading to intransigent beliefs, 197–99
transient beliefs, 28
and explanations, 120
external information triggering, 108
fallibility of, 36
formulas as beliefs, 83
fragmentation of beliefs, 207–209, 210, 212
God, belief in, 87–88, 95, 209
groups sharing beliefs, 24, 25–26, 39, 207, 208
distrust of other groups, 176
as source of rules and expected social behavior, 26
triggering effects spreading through groups, 187
history and beliefs, 41–56
history of the scientific method of thinking, 90–93
revisions and interpretations, 41–42
timetable for, 210
humans born to believe, 202
as hunches, guesses, or speculations, 21
illusions, beliefs and divides in awareness as, 124–25
and imaginings
imaginings becoming beliefs, 148–49, 199–201
imaginings resembling beliefs, 145
impact of language on, 73
and indoctrination by others, 196
instant beliefs, 38
and intense disbelief, 51–52
intransigent beliefs, 189–202, 203, 204, 212, 213
belief perseverance, 192
“deeply held belief,” 79, 112, 192
memories of beliefs, 106–108
as mental sensations, 117
and mirroring, 160
models and model modification, 178
myth vs. belief, 46
neurophysiological studies, 110–11
neurosciences and belief, 110–11, 115–27
no two brains having same, 134
numbers of, 34
observation vs. belief, 30, 38
overvaluing of, 202
pain and beliefs, 105
persistent belief of being “someone else’s child,” 9–10, 100, 213
philosophical considerations, 101–13
and planning a trip, 120–21
and pseudoscience, 52–55
psychologists and beliefs, 35–39
religious myths-beliefs, 43, 46–47, 171, 207
resistant to change, 51–52
retaining views that are brought to a situation, 80–84
science vs. religion, 87–98
seeing what we believe, 77–85, 149, 202
seeking to confirm, 37
self-indoctrinated beliefs, 197
situational beliefs, 101, 106, 107–108, 120
social beliefs, 73, 74–75
sources of, 21–22, 79, 100
steps in developing, 64
strongly held beliefs change infrequently, 79
struggle, beliefs associated with, 30
that science and math can address, 212
and thoughtful decisions, 119–20
tool kits of beliefs and procedures, 64
transient beliefs, 28
triggers melding into a belief, 186
trust as basis for, 18, 46
truths, beliefs becoming, 33, 192, 194, 195
types and uses of, 24–34
violation of beliefs, 30
wide range of, 203
without consequences, 27
wrong beliefs, 31–32, 70
that religious fundamentalists would be positive about evolution, 158
See also conviction
Believing Brain, The: From Ghosts to Politics and Conspiracies—How We Construct Beliefs (Shermer), 37–38
Bergson, Henri, 101
Berkeley, George, 101
bias, 22, 131, 148, 208
and the brain, 36, 37, 47, 93, 129, 182, 186, 202, 206, 213
humans as cognitively biased species, 138
retaining views that are brought to a situation, 80–84
Bible, 20, 29, 50, 52, 194, 208
Old Testament, 32, 51, 97
bigoted brain, 37
Billy Budd, Sailor (Melville), 72
biology of belief, 129–42
birds painting rocks, 77–79
black mamba (snake), 179
“Boo” (imagined animal at the zoo), 144–45, 148
books. See media and technology
Borges, Jorge Luis, 171
“bottom-up” models, 176–77
“Bradshaws” (rock-art paintings in Australia), 77–79
Bradshaws: Ancient Rock Paintings of North-West Australia (Walsh), 78
brain
activity during thoughtful decision process, 119
analysis, noninvasive technique for, 14–15
and awareness, 49, 107, 111, 112, 117, 119, 124–25, 129, 145, 152, 154, 156, 186
and beliefs
contributing to believing weird things, 37
and beliefs and divides, 211
belief and divides require a brain, 110–11
and belief creation, 213
beliefs about others’ brain states, 153–59
beliefs stored in the brain (representation), 106–108, 123–25, 126, 145, 183, 211, 213
believing as default feature of, 56
brain has inbuilt system to narrow divides, 70, 152
divide reduction, 202, 213
managing divides, 204
no two brains managing divides the same way, 134
prepared to believe, 202
as products of brain systems, 144
storing beliefs in, 106–108
systems that contribute to, 203–204
ways it biases perceptions and beliefs, 37
Believing Page 27