Final Research Essay

Running head: “Man is made by his belief. As he believes, so he is.”–Johann 1 Wolfgang von Goethe

“Man is made by his belief. As he believes, so he is.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Julia N. Terry

University of North Carolina, Charlotte

2“MAN IS MADE BY HIS BELIEF. AS HE BELIEVES, SO HE IS.” – JOHANN WOLFGANG VON GOETHE

Abstract

This paper explores why people believe things that cannot be proven. It first goes into

explaining the influence that caregivers have over these beliefs, and then peer/group influence.

Additionally, the paper examines psychological illnesses, the use of mind control and

brainwashing, learning theories, and a predisposition to categorize as a defense mechanism for

survival. In the end, this paper suggests that the driving force behind all of this is so that people

can use these beliefs to make sense of a world that is very random. The methods used to collect

this information were through videos, books, online articles, personal interactions, and

academic journals.


“Man is made by his belief. As he believes, so he is.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Political debates about ethical issues such as abortions and gay marriage end in people

yelling at each other because both sides have a strong stance. Thousands of kamikaze pilots

killed themselves because they believed that they were doing the right thing and would be

rewarded in the afterlife. It may seem bizarre to compare death to debating, but both of these

actions are fundamentally instigated by a belief that people cannot prove. So how do logical

human beings come to make these strong stands against or for certain things when, in reality,

there is not any real evidence to back up the belief? Essentially, human’s beliefs are influenced

by environmental and biological factors. But ultimately, people gravitate towards a specific

belief system because it fulfills their need to make sense of the world.

As a child, people do not know what is right or wrong, all that they know is that they

trust their caregivers and generally see them as role models. Because of this, parent’s beliefs, or

the person to first influence a child, is what guides their beliefs indefinitely (Shortsleeve, 2015).

For example, when a child observes that their parents believe in a particular faith, they believe

in it as well because what their parents do is correct and good. Some children will continue to

practice that religion throughout their lifetime. Additionally, children will generally base other

beliefs off of a scripture associated with their religion. For example, people against gay

marriage may state that they do not believe in it because the bible says that marriage is defined

as a union between men and women. This exemplifies that fact the parent’s beliefs provides a

foundation for which all other beliefs build off of.


One theory about why these beliefs tend to be lifelong is because beliefs are a lot like

memories (Jha, 2005). “Memories are formed in the brain as networks of neurons that fire

when stimulated by an event. The more times the network is employed, the more it fires and

the stronger the memory becomes" (Jha, 2005). When a child grows up with a belief, it is

constantly being stimulated by reinforcement from their parents, events that they associate it

with, and much more. It is stored in the brain like a memory and, therefore, is a deep-seated

belief (Jha, 2005).

As a person matures, they tend to question their caregivers and look elsewhere for

beliefs. People already have a predisposition to form groups because it is evolutionarily

advantageous to do so for survival (Galanter & Wenegrat, 1989). Therefore, it is not surprising

that this is where the child would turn to.

A person gravitates towards specific groups because they see themselves, or what they

aspire to be, in the other members (Perry, Hansen, Posten, & Schlabach, 1998). This is referred

to as social identity theory (Perry et al., 1998). When people identify with their group, they are

more likely to conform to what the group says, such as a particular belief system (Galanter &

Wenegrat, 1989). This person’s tendency to conform may be heightened at the time that they

first become a group member because they do not feel completely accepted yet (Morris &

Maisto, 2015). Especially if it is at a fragile time in their lives, like adolescence, their intense fear

of rejection is what fuels this tendency.


Additionally, when people are in these groups it allows them to have stability and

comfort because there is an authority figure (Ellwood, Gibney, & Orner, 2006). When a leader

tells a group what is right and wrong, it means that not all of the responsibility is put on one

individual (Ellwood et al., 2006). What this provides is comfort in their actions. For example, Dr.

Stanley Milgram conducted an experiment in 1962 wherein he told the subject to shock a

person (the person was not real, but the subject did not know that) if they incorrectly answered

a question (Ellwood et al., 2006). Each time the person was incorrect, the subject would be

directed to make the intensity of the shock go up (Ellwood et al., 2006). Milgram was testing

how high on the intensity scale they would go when the person they thought they were

shocking was crying out in severe pain (Ellwood et al., 2006). 60-65% of the subjects went all

the way to the top of the intensity scale (Ellwood et al., 2006). Milgram concluded that because

he was there telling them what to do, the subjects had someone to blame and, therefore, they

felt less responsible for the person they thought they were shocking and were able to believe

that what they were doing was valid (Ellwood et al., 2006). If a person’s belief has a support

system, it reassures them. Having a powerful leader that affirms this belief further enhances

this comfort.

This leader is propelled forward by the strong beliefs he/she has. The majority of the

time, this belief is valid such as Martin Luther King Jr. wanting to put an end to racism because

it is a violation of innate human rights. However, sometimes the belief is extreme and irrational

like Hitler’s belief that the “Aryan” race was superior, and that he had to eradicate the Jewish

population. Some psychologists suggest that these severe belief systems are brought on by


psychological illnesses. In Hitler’s case, the symptoms of paranoid personality disorder

produces a probable reason for how he conjured up such radical beliefs (A. A. Maisto, personal

communication, December 2, 2015). Paranoia generally starts with delusions of persecution,

the subject believes that someone is out to get them (Morris & Maisto, 2015). Then they start

having delusions of grandeur in which they start thinking that this is the case because they are

special, unique, and important (Morris & Maisto, 2015). When these paranoid delusions build

on each other, it results in irrational, severe beliefs not unlike Hitler’s (Morris & Maisto, 2015).

This is just one example. There are numerous other psychological illnesses said to promote

certain belief systems.

Other psychologists suggest that leaders utilize mind control to get others to believe

what they believe (Shortsleeve, 2015). Generally these types of leaders are, “… not encouraging

individuality or creativity, regulating what people read or who they can associate with, and

[promote] the installation of phobias” (Shortsleeve, 2015). The key elements they use are, “…

behavior control, information control, thought control, and emotional control” (Shortsleeve,

2015).

Mind control generally has a negative connotation, but that is not always the case. For

example, some people believe that the public school system uses mind control to instill at a

very early age the belief of respecting and following an authoritative figure, which is essential

for maintaining a job. Going off of the key elements, an example of behavior control is the need

to ask permission to go to the restroom; an example of information control is the use of

government approved textbooks; an example of thought control is the lack of questioning of


authority; and an example of emotional control is the excessive use of fear, such as the fear of

suspension. While some may see this in a negative light, many people believe it aids in the

students becoming a functioning adult in society.

Then there is brainwashing, which is generally always negative. It is a drastic version of

mind control where, instead of just talking about punishments that will happen, the group or

leader uses physical force (Shortsleeve, 2015). For example, the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) in

Africa kidnaps children and brainwashes them to become soldiers (Mark, 2013). One of the

soldiers who escaped, Edward, “…explained how the abducted were repeatedly forced to kill

other children who attempted to escape, and warned they would face the same fate if they

tried it” (Mark, 2013). Unfortunately, the LRA succeeds in making children believe that their

way of life is the norm and this is just one of their tactics.

People also come to believe of things because they learn them later in life. An example

is B.F. Skinner’s idea of operant conditioning, you do something (or believe something) because

of the reinforcement (Morris & Maisto, 2015). For example, working on homework in high

school generally results in a higher grade. That higher grade leads to reinforcement such as

being able to get into a good college, a higher class rank, or parental approval. Therefore, we

believe that homework is important.

When the reinforcement comes at random times, called a variable interval schedule,

these beliefs are the hardest to unlearn (A. A. Maisto, personal communication, October 27,

2015). Superstitions, for example, are learned this way (Shermer, 2011, p. 65). Some athletes


have a particular thing that they do before they go out and play because, at one point, they did

not for whatever reason, and they lost the game. They come to believe that whatever they do

actually makes a difference.

There is also a fixed kind of learning where one thing causes another (Shermer, 2011, p.

67). It is said to actually change a person’s brain chemistry to make them believe a certain way

(Shermer, 2011, p. 67). For instance, siblings are very closely related to each other genetically,

and that causes problems with offspring (Shermer, 2011, p. 67). It is said that this is why people

learn to be disgusted by incest (Shermer, 2011, p. 67). It has to do with people’s brains, not

something someone once told them (Shermer, 2011, p. 67).

Another way people’s brains are connected to beliefs is through categorization. There is

so much sensory information being received by a person’s brain that how the brain handles it is

through quick categorization (Jha, 2005). Normally, people have time to process all of this and

think rationally. However, during times of stress, “’…the brain… makes people more likely to fall

back on things they know well - stereotypes and simple ways of thinking,’” (Jha, 2005). For

example, when September 11th happened, “…more than half of Americans thought Iraqis were

involved in the attacks, despite the fact that nobody had come out and said it” (Jha, 2005). This

exemplifies the fact that beliefs can be defensive mechanisms, even if irrational.

People believe these irrational thoughts because it makes sense of a world that is very

random (Usó - Doménech & Nescolarde, 2015). In fact, it is suggested that this is why people

form beliefs in the first place (Usó - Doménech & Nescolarde, 2015). Why would someone


hijack a plane, fly it into a building, and kill everyone? There is no making sense of that, so

people overcompensate with beliefs. Overall, shades of grey are harder to comprehend and are

often frustrating, so people are predisposed to go towards only black and white, even when

there is no evidence. This is partially due to cognitive dissonance, where two ideas conflict

(Morris & Maisto, 2015, p. 499). This is incredibly uncomfortable for most people which is why

people tend to always look for reassurance of their beliefs and block out opposing ideas, even if

they are wrong, because “…people need to find consistency and stability even in the face of

inconsistency and unpredictability” (Morris & Maisto, 2015, p. 373). This is referred to as belief-

dependent realism (Shermer, 2011, p. 6).

After reading all of this, it is easy to grasp that while people tend to protect and defend

their beliefs about things that they cannot prove, and belittle and tear down people who think

differently, everyone has a valid reason for why they believe what they believe (regardless of

why they truly believe it). Therefore, people should be tolerant (or, at minimum, understanding

of how people came to believe that) of other’s beliefs. This paper’s purpose is not to coax

people to change nor question their beliefs, or to not have beliefs at all because, as described

above, these are what drives society and gives people purpose. But, when people are yelling at

each other in a political debate, they need to realize that their facts most likely are not going to

sway their opponent because beliefs are so deeply rooted in people, that it is nearly impossible

to believe the other side.


References


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Final Research Essay