The 6 'pulls' that shape our beliefs
Rethinking Beliefs: How and why do we believe what we do?
Dear Rethinkers,
Have you ever wondered why you believe some things and not others? Do you have any idea where your beliefs come from? I’m guessing the answer is “mmm” or “no”. We all hold beliefs - on everything from parenting to politics, the morality of war to the nutritional value of bananas - but we give little thought to how we got them.
Our minds are like an ideological immune system, susceptible to some ideas and resistant to others. Just as we don’t really understand how we fight off the flu, most of us have no clue how this process works with beliefs:
How we reach certain beliefs
Why we’re still clinging to them
And why those beliefs make us act a particular way or make certain choices, right down to our diets and dress codes.
Beliefs powerfully influence who we let in and who we keep out of our lives. What information we listen to or block out. And whom we trust.
But so often, the narrative around beliefs is focused on WHAT people believe, not WHY.
So why do you believe what you do?
Ultimately, our beliefs are shaped by our environments and motivations - what we believe depends on what we want or need to believe. I call these motivations “pulls” because they often lead us to hold onto something, for better or worse.
The Six ‘Pulls’
#1: Control: The pull to find order
Choosing to believe things that help us create meaning out of meaninglessness or complexity. We crave explanations that will create more coherence and certainty and act as a stabilizing force. This pull for order fulfils our need for comfort and control, especially when we feel powerless in a world of political turmoil, economic instability, and social unrest.
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