Beliefs are interesting—and necessary—because you can’t know everything. Did you leave the stove on? If you don’t remember turning it off, you might have doubts. If you’re not home, you’d have to go back to make sure (unless you have an IoT smart device). Who was the 32nd president of the United States? You might have to look that one up or, if you’re like me and had to memorize them in 5th grade, name them all in order and count them until you get there. Without beliefs, you’d have to rely on pure knowledge, which is so limited that Socrates famously said something to the effect of, “I know that I know nothing,” in Plato’s dialogues. Without knowledge, you’d must rely on assumptions and beliefs to make decisions and take actions in this world that are most likely to result in the desired outcome.
So, where do beliefs come from? Well, they come from a few places. First, there is a genetic component to your brain’s wiring, so you have built-in reflexes and drives for air, food, water, shelter, and sex among other things. So, you intrinsically believe that you need those things because you do to grow and reproduce. Then, there’s direct experience. If a tiger jumps out from behind some brush, you’ll be afraid of brush in the future because you’ll believe that a tiger might be there. Next, there is indirect knowledge through learning. In this method, you are told that something is true, and so you believe it. This evolved through social capabilities and allows those with experience or a strategy (e.g., adults) to pass on information to others without the information (e.g., children). Finally, there are guesses based on existing knowledge. For example, if you are allergic to cats, you might also be careful around dogs at first in case you are also allergic. Once you get the new information after being exposed to dogs, you may change your beliefs accordingly.
So, when you combine those two elements (you need to fill in the gaps of your knowledge and that can only come from experience, communication, or inferences based on related past experiences), you gain an understanding of where beliefs come from and why. What can you do with this information? You can use it to test your beliefs for accuracy and value.
To ensure that you have the best set of beliefs about a current situation to make the best decision or action, see which beliefs or assumptions you are basing it on and then determine how likely they are to be correct. For example, you might get a job offer from a company that you think is going to fail, but it turns out that you saw a video from a media personality who was paid by the competition to criticize it. Therefore, your belief about the company is subject to bias that you might need to correct with information from more objective sources. Then, once you get the additional information, you can see whether it has changed your mind regarding accepting or declining the offer.
People naturally do this throughout their lives without consciously realizing it. Arguably, the most famous example of this is when a child graduates from high school, goes to college or starts in the workforce, and then is exposed to completely new experiences that change his or her worldview. This works in a variety of ways, but well-known modern examples include how conservative children become more progressive when going to college (i.e., they are exposed to activists and interest groups on campus), liberal children become more conservative when they get a job or start a business (i.e., they begin to pay taxes), and previously spoiled or sheltered children get a wake-up call about responsibility or real-world difficulties when they have to make it on their own.
Typically, beliefs start with biological predisposition, including:
They then get some immediate experience while interacting with the world, such as:
Next, they are taught by parents, teachers, and peers about certain things, such as:
Finally, they begin to make their own decisions for themselves that will shape the rest of their lives in all of the above areas. This is where children will begin to deviate from their parents’ religious beliefs, philosophy, political beliefs, ethical beliefs, predictions about the future, and knowledge and life skills. If we all had the same knowledge, beliefs, and interests, we would all act exactly the same to everything. While that seems like it would be easier, it would be less interesting and, from a survival standpoint, much more difficult (e.g., if everyone had the same interests, you couldn’t have someone who doesn’t mind trash collecting working in exchange for food that someone doesn’t mind growing since everyone would like and dislike the same things). Since we have different needs, interests, knowledge, and abilities, we’re naturally going to have different beliefs.
With this understanding of how beliefs are formed, you can now form new beliefs in a more deliberate manner. You can question what your parents taught you if they have incorrect or outdated beliefs that are preventing you from succeeding in your life. You can question what your teachers taught you if they don’t apply to specific situations. You can question what your friends got you to believe if you move and find new friends that fit better with your current life situation. You can question what you thought you knew when given new information that is different from what you had to assume was true without it. You can even question your own biological beliefs if you need to temper your sex drive to make a better decision about whom to marry or reproduce with. Every time you “keep it in your pants”, you override your intrinsic drives with beliefs about proper behavior for optimal life outcomes in modern society.
So, the next time you encounter a highly consequential decision or action, work back from the options and what initial gut feeling you have about what to do to why you think that is right. Then, if the underlying belief may be subject to correction or exceptions, check to see whether you should change your mind or not and if that impacts your decision or action. If it does, then your understanding of where beliefs come from just benefitted you in the form of a better life choice. And that’s what beliefs are for: the best life choices given the fact that you will always have limited information. When your beliefs lead you to the best outcome, they are the right ones to hold; if they lead you to the wrong outcome, then you may need to rethink them. That’s the value of understanding and testing beliefs.