Some Observations about Beliefs - Part 3
How to change the Beliefs of others — which will change their Actions...
When we use the word “Beliefs” many people think of religion. However, most of our Beliefs have nothing to do with religion. As outlined in Part 1 (w examples in Part 2), almost all of our Beliefs are our opinions about what things are, how things behave, etc. Examples of Beliefs are “Joe Biden is doing a good job as President” or “Unless we make radical societal changes, the world will soon cease to exist as we know it,” etc.
We are all frequently put in positions where we would like others to act differently — ranging from wanting them to support a certain political candidate, to keeping their dog off your property.
Most issues are not worth worrying about, but when any are (e.g., a close relative who is way off base on an important matter), you may decide that it is worth your time to try to fix that person’s misconception.
One of the most effective ways to get such people to change their Actions is to get to their Beliefs. There are four (4) basic options to get them to do our desired Action:
1) connect our desired Action to an existing Belief of theirs (that’s consistent with the desired Action),
2) modify an existing Belief of theirs (so that it now prompts the desired Action),
3) create a new Belief in them (that’s consistent with the desired Action),
4) eliminate an existing Belief of theirs (that’s blocking the desired Action).
Carefully think about these before proceeding on…
There are two methods to get people to change their Beliefs: Directly or Indirectly.
Directly (or consciously) would be (see this sample reference) to:
a) ask them what they think their relevant Belief is,
b) get a clear understanding of exactly what their relevant Belief is,
c) discuss the relevance of their Belief to the situation at hand,
d) assist them in scrutinizing any relevant Belief for its accuracy,
e) release any emotions tied to this Belief, and
f) break any bonds of faith that are established with this Belief.
Indirectly would be to use very different strategies than the direct approach.
Specifically, this would be accessing the other person’s subconscious mind (i.e., where their Beliefs are primarily located). If done right, they will not likely be aware that we are modifying their Belief system. However, before that can be explained, we must have a solid understanding of the two minds…
The Conscious mind vs the Subconscious mind might be compared to an iceberg. What we see (and deal with) in others, is the small visible part above water. That’s the Conscious Mind.
Below water is a MUCH larger part — the part that gives the iceberg its real strength. This is the Subconscious Mind, which is an accumulation of all your experiences.
We periodically give over control to our Subconscious Mind, without being aware of it.
A good example is when you are driving for a while on a highway. You start thinking about something else (e.g., an upcoming event). Suddenly you realize that fifteen minutes have passed where you were not consciously paying attention to driving. Yet, you still accelerated, braked, and steered around obstacles, while going 60 MPH. Your Subconscious Mind was controlling your actions.
Surprisingly, there is still a lot we don’t know about our Subconscious Mind, but here are some generally agreed on characteristics:
1 - It is always on, 24/7. (It’s the Conscious Mind that goes to sleep.)
2 - It processes millions of daily inputs that would overwhelm the Conscious Mind.
3 - It puts many of your daily functions on auto-pilot.
4 - It doesn’t reason.
5 - It records our emotional response to events.
6 - It stores memories.
Understanding how the Subconscious Mind works will help us be happier, more effective people, as it enables us to communicate better with others.
It should go without saying the Critical Thinking about our Beliefs (their accuracy, their applicability, etc.) is exceptionally important.
(How to communicate to another person’s subconscious mind is a fascinating topic. If I get the time, I’ll write about this in a future installment.)
Here are other materials by this scientist that you might find interesting:
Check out the Archives of this Critical Thinking substack.
WiseEnergy.org: discusses the Science (or lack thereof) behind our energy options.
C19Science.info: covers the lack of genuine Science behind our COVID-19 policies.
Election-Integrity.info: multiple major reports on the election integrity issue.
Media Balance Newsletter: a free, twice-a-month newsletter that covers what the mainstream media does not do, on issues from COVID to climate, elections to education, renewables to religion, etc. Here are the Newsletter’s 2024 Archives. Please send me an email to get your free copy. When emailing me, please make sure to include your full name and the state where you live. (Of course, you can cancel the Media Balance Newsletter at any time - but why would you?
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Sometimes. people have no desire to change, so what do you do? I would just walk away and let them believe exactly, what they want to believe. Some people are not open to learning!
The ice berg analogy in my opinion makes a lot of sense and when I applied this idea to my own belief system and thought about it, I can't think of a better comparison. I have spent a great deal of time academically and personally researching epistemology, the physiological and psychological aspects of forming beliefs, and how we differentiate fact from belief, working and long term memory, subliminal messaging, motivation, and emotion. I am by no means an authority on these topics, but I do hold a degree in psychology/neuroscience. Dan made an observation/question that I see frequently, "In short, why would you be interested in what other people believe? That’s their game and their problems. Wouldn’t it be wiser to resolve one’s own dead ends first?" I believe Dan raises a valid point especially with regard to one's freedom of autonomy in forming their own homogenous understanding of their own belief system. It does not seem noble to try and reshape another persons belief system. This raises a question, if someone develops a belief system shaped by experience and maybe genetics that leads them to experiencing above average levels of stress, depression, perhaps borderline personality disorder, phobia, etc..., would it be unethical to help that person develop beliefs that might help them to understand themselves and the world they interact with? Is there a benefit to assist them to develop a cohesive understanding, self-esteem, self efficacy, and self control? Is it wrong to help them find a belief system where they might feel better accepted and in turn accept a society that is quick to stigmatize a person that present themselves in a way that may seem awkward to others? As for how people form beliefs, it is the subliminal memory that is most vulnerable to intrusive influence and we should try and remember this to protect our minds especially today where we see the intended creation of cognitive dissonance that is encouraging the gradual influence to learned helplessness. When someone feels helpless they are now ripe for conditioning. Should a bad actor be pulling the levers of manipulation pertaining to the beliefs of the completely unaware victim('s) I would argue that this is no less than brain rape. For this reason, I completely understand why Dan seems to believe trying to fix a persons misconception is a bad idea. To lend credibility to this post first it is important to understand that the mainstream tells us subliminal messaging is mildly effective at best. I would argue that if this is the case, why are tools like Project Illicit, a website managed by Harvard that has been employed for public use to determine ones illicit bias in terms of race especially along the lines of microaggressions. This tool utilizes the same memory forming areas of the brain that are used in subliminal memory formation. The ethics involved in subliminal marketing and mind control are a huge public concern; therefore, would it behoove a perpetrator to debunk research like James Vicary in his pop-corn and Coke experiment. Edward Bernays (Sigmund Freud's nephew) worked with the US Government in the 1940's and 50's in utilizing commercial media and specialized media that Bernays says "Knowledge of how to use this enormous amplifying system becomes a matter of primary concern to those who are interested in socially constructive action." There are books on this subject that have mysteriously gone away and forgotten (I think I used to know someone who actually came across some of these books, but maybe they made it up) as well as copious amounts of research that is classified and or withheld which further perpetuates research that relegates subliminal messaging's effectiveness to be minimal or a myth. Neuroscience research with the advent of fMRI and other technologies has discovered certain brain functions like thalamus filtering which demonstrates how information is forwarded to other processing regions of the brain and this is just scratching the surface of what has been learned. Whether you believe what I have shared is accurate will be interpreted by your own experience and beliefs, that is our God given right. So I have a question for Dan, if you suspected a friend or loved one to have formed a belief or system of beliefs that might cause that person stress, self-harm, or harm to others, would you want to try and help that person? John, I thank you for writing on this topic as it seems to be relevant to this time in history more than ever, and in my opinion worthy of open and objective discussion by all critical thinkers everywhere.