Change your Beliefs 1
Belief-change is difficult yet very important for many of us to overcome self-defeating beliefs. We begin with the the most reliable, the most obvious and the easiest to apply: Using Knowledge and Doubt.
THEORY: Knowledge is power
Knowledge and doubt changes beliefs. To understand how, we’ll consider Kim, who knows that snakes are deadly.
Event: Kim sees a snake
Appraisal based on belief: Dangerous
Emotion: Fear for life
Kim’s brain fear snakes. Her limited knowledge influences her limited beliefs and it perpetuates her fear.[i] But Kim begins to date Sam who handles snakes in a zoo. He knows which snakes are venomous and which aren’t. Sam sees the snake.
Event: Sam sees the same snake
Appraisal based on belief: Definitely Harmless
Emotion: Confident and calm
Two people, same event, different reactions based on different beliefs. The difference? Knowledge. Sam gives Kim a crash course on snakes and how to handle them. The new knowledge and her new-found snake-handling skills changed Kim’s belief about snakes forever. Now Kim doesn’t panic around snakes. She’s calm and confident. (But Sam wasn’t careful enough and died after a snake-bite. Poor Sam. Kim was devastated, then dated Damian who was a bit of a snake himself, but Kim knew how to handle him.)
Knowledge is power, it changes belief and emotional reactions.
In our information age, we take knowledge for granted. Increase your knowledge and search for evidence in trusted sources to change your beliefs. The scientific method drives knowledge by using scepticism; doubt.
The power of doubt
Doubt is a useful emotion to counter the natural overconfidence we all have.[ii] Overconfidence impedes accurate beliefs about ourselves, others and the world. To shift useless beliefs, we need to shift useless emotions like overconfidence with healthy self-doubt.
If you have a fear, doubt the validity of your fear. Learn about the fear, learn skills in handling it, and your fear in flying, spiders, snakes, exams, public speaking or commitment WILL decrease; many studies show this. Doubt is power. Knowledge is power. Doubt and learning can help you do the same with anger, jealousy, spite or timidity.
Doubt loosens an old belief; Knowledge shifts you towards the reality of a more accurate belief. Developing skills empowers you, but it takes worthwhile effort.
Doubt, knowledge & learning skills can powerfully change belief and emotion.
APPLICATION
Here’s my four-step method to use knowledge and doubt to change useless beliefs.
1 Write down your old belief and your goal.
2 Apply doubt to the old belief
3 Gain objective knowledge
4 Base your new belief on the expanded knowledge.
We will use four examples: one objective fact, a faith issue, an opinion of a person and a self-opinion.
OBJECTIVE FACT
Step 1: Write out the old belief and your goal.
Old belief: One day we could live on Mars.
Goal: I want to know the facts about living on Mars.
Step 2: Apply doubt to the old belief. What’s the basis of believing we could live on Mars? A movie? Experts? Books? I wonder if that’s true. Maybe it isn’t. Doubt helps you let go of the old belief if you need to.
Step 3: Gain knowledge. How can I find out? Go to trusted internet sites, up-to-date text books, or talk to an expert. Look for reliable evidence and fact, not opinions. Evidence may conflict. Welcome the conflict, it’ll drive you to deeper, more nuanced details.
Step 4: Form a new belief based on knowledge.
After my research, I believe we’d need a spacesuit to walk on Mars and buildings with complex life-support systems. It’s possible to live there, but it’ll take decades and a lot of resources.
This nuanced belief is now based on knowledge and includes more details. It’ll make you a hit at parties.
FAITH ISSUES
For many people I see in my office, some faith-beliefs can be debilitating. Having a scientific approach to understanding a faith-issue helps. We will take a common example.
Step 1: Write out the old belief and your goal.
Old belief: I’m going to burn in hell for eternity.
Goal: Can I find a more nuanced idea of hell and damnation?
Step 2: Apply doubt to the old. What’s the basis of my belief in hell in the context of my whole faith? Does my belief make sense in this context? This loosens the grip of the old belief.
Step 3: Gain knowledge. What are some different ideas about hell? Research the internet, books or talk to an expert or religious leader. The aim is to find learned opinions that “resonate” with you; feel in line with who you are. Conflicting opinions will drive you to more nuances with finer details.
Step 4: Form a new belief based on your expanded knowledge.
I’ve found a variety of ideas on hell in the context of my faith: hell can be a punishment, a place some people choose, a mind-state, a place you can get out of, or a place that doesn’t exist. What resonates with me?
This more nuanced faith-belief is based on researched consideration and can shift some of the stuck-ness that comes with unexamined belief.
OPINION OF A PERSON
Step 1: Write out your old belief and your goal.
Old belief: James is a loud-mouthed jerk.
Goal: Can I get to know the real James?
Step 2: Apply doubt to the old. What’s the basis of my belief about James? I barely know him. With doubt, you’ll re-appraise your first impressions.
Step 3: Gain knowledge about James. James is the most reliable source of information about himself, so talk to him, get to know him; others will have their opinions about him. Opinions may conflict and drive you to try to understand James more.
Step 4: Form a new belief based on knowledge.
After talking to James, I found out he really IS just a loud-mouthed jerk.
This new belief is hardly nuanced. Maybe you could talk to him again after you understand his fear of not being accepted; this makes him talk too loudly.
SELF-OPINION
Step 1: Write out your old belief and your goal. A goal belief needs to be an objective, reasonable, nuanced statement rather than a dream-wish.
Old belief: I’m such a loser.
Goal belief: I can succeed when I put in effort.
Step 2: Apply doubt to the old belief. Why do I think I’m a loser? Is that reality? Maybe it’s my emotions speaking. Doubt loosens the grip of the old belief.
Step 3: Gain personal knowledge. Let me look at myself more objectively. Appraise yourself as your friend or mother would. Look at your successes, the ones your brain conveniently overlooks. Take an inventory of facts and evidence about yourself, don’t accept your subjective opinion. This is not easy. The evidence will drive you to a deeper, more nuanced understanding of yourself.
Step 4: Form a new belief based on knowledge.
I often feel like a loser, but I see that when I’ve put in effort, I’ve succeeded. Like others, I can succeed at things that are easy and may fail at things that are difficult.
This nuanced belief is closer to reality and it suggests an action plan.
Limitations
Your real challenge will be shifting the emotions which sustain your old beliefs. Because of this, many people give up on this knowledge & doubt method, but please persevere. Knowledge and doubt can powerfully stand up to your emotions. Focus on Knowledge and Doubt, and let your emotions be.
Knowledge and doubt is the method par excellence for changing belief in objective fact and hypotheses.
Knowledge and doubt can help change your faith-belief or deepen it.
Knowledge and doubt are essential to changing self-opinions; to take them out of the darkness of unexamined assumptions and into the light of reason and careful consideration.
Cheers.
[i] Miceli, Maria, and Cristiano Castelfranchi. Expectancy and emotion. OUP Oxford, 2014, page 3.
[ii] Pallier, Gerry, et al. "The role of individual differences in the accuracy of confidence judgments." The Journal of general psychology 129.3 (2002): 257-299. O'Sullivan, Owen P. "The Neural Basis of Always Looking on the Bright Side." Dialogues in Philosophy, Mental & Neuro Sciences 8.1 (2015).