Why facts don’t change our mind: belief systems that hinders growth and success

BY DANIEL COLE

Belief systems are difficult to change, most especially if they are rooted in culture and experience. Experience is not just only the best teacher; sometimes, memories from our experiences can also be an instrument of fear that stops us from moving forward in life. Several thinking biases deter progress in life, and one of them is known as the “Confirmation Bias,” the tendency people have to embrace information that supports their beliefs and rejects information that contradicts them.

Success requires thought flexibility and the willingness to relearn and unlearn. In psychology, there is a term known as metacognition, which in its simplest definition means, thinking about what you think about. Sometimes, we blindly hold on to certain beliefs that are traditionally or culturally passed down to us without thinking thoroughly about them, their validity, efficacy, and relevance. Fact, even when accurate and scientifically validated, is not potent enough to discourage people from letting go of beliefs that may be holding them back.

Elizabeth Kolbert has rightly said, “The vaunted human capacity for reason may have more to do with winning arguments than with thinking straight. ” People experience genuine pleasure, a rush of dopamine when processing information that supports their beliefs. “It feels good to ‘stick to our guns’ even if we are wrong.”

According to Leo Tolstoy, “The most difficult subjects can be explained to the most slow-witted man if he has not formed any idea of them already; but the simplest thing cannot be made clear to the most intelligent man if he is firmly persuaded that he knows already, without a shadow of a doubt, what is laid before him.”

Humans are social creatures, and facts and accuracy are not the only things that matter to the human mind. We also seem to have a deep desire to belong, even if it is at the cost of embracing what is “factually false, but socially accurate.”

James Clear, the author of the book, ‘Atomic Habits’ once wrote, “In many circumstances, social connection is actually more helpful to your daily life than understanding the truth of a particular fact or idea.” The Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker put it this way, “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.”

In a social environment, when we have to choose between the two, people often select friends and family over facts and accuracy. Convincing someone to change their mind is really the process of convincing them to change their tribe. If they abandon their beliefs, they run the risk of losing social ties. You can’t expect someone to change their mind if you take away their community too. You have to give them somewhere to go. Nobody wants their worldview torn apart if loneliness is the outcome.

Our religious background influences how we think, and it also shapes our worldview. Those who have a deeply religious upbringing should be careful of just seeing the world only from their spiritual lenses. Spiritualism is not against reasoning. We should not be spiritually dogmatic in our thinking and beliefs that we are not open to engaging in rational and logical reasoning.

Conclusively, practice metacognitive thinking. It is impossible to rise beyond the quality of your thought. Are there any beliefs holding you back? Are there painful memories of your past that still creates fear for you to move forward? Take time out to reflect on these things; change begins with self-awareness.