Primal Beliefs Resulting from Our Need to Feel Special and Comforted

We want to feel special, not just as individuals, but also as a species.  Furthermore, we want to feel as if life itself is special, that there is a purpose for life existing on our world, that we were put here for a reason, that life is more than just a random chemical accident, a pattern in existence no more remarkable than the intricate network of interacting shapes in the sand dunes of a desert.

What are the signs that this is a primal belief?

This is perhaps not a strong primal belief, but we get a sick feeling when our minds start wandering paths of thought about the pointlessness of our existence.  This sick feeling is a sign that a belief in a purpose for life is a primal one.

2. That we are more than just smart animals

In the same way that we want to think life is precious and remarkable, we want to think that humans are a particularly special example of life, that we are qualitatively better than plants and other animals (not just slightly more sophisticated versions).

What are the signs that this is a primal belief?

When hearing that bacteria are the most successful life form on the planet (which they are in terms of numbers and biomass), that feeling of indignation is our primal belief preference kicking in; we are reluctant to accept that belief.  Similarly, the story of Adam and Eve is so appealing because we are portrayed as fundamentally different from animals, as special creatures.  Perhaps, though, the most compelling sign that this is a primal belief is the immense resistance that Darwin and others experienced to the notion that we are descended from apes; clearly many people did not want to believe it.

3. That we have true free will

Part of the narrative that we tell ourselves is that we are in control of our actions, that we are totally free to make decisions one way or another.  This is a comforting notion, and, beyond that, it is a helpful notion from an evolutionary perspective, since it encourages us to exercise our practical free will, it encourages us to be bold and decisive, whereas believing that our actions are predetermined by complex factors that we cannot see or influence, could make everything seem rather pointless, leading to fatalism and lassitude.

What are the signs that this is a primal belief?

This is an interesting example because we do find the notion that our actions are totally mapped out for us unpalatable (and even adding a random factor does not make it any more appealing), indicating that it is a primal belief, and yet the alternative does not make any logical sense.  To explain: if we decided to eat the chocolate, not the cabbage, that decision depends on things like our genes (we are a chocolate-loving family), our experiences (we once choked on cabbage), our physical status (our stomach is already full of vegetables), and our environment (we are surrounded by people gorging on chocolate and loving it).  None of these things are under our control in that moment, and yet we like to think that we are freely choosing the chocolate.

4. That we have souls existing beyond our bodies

Believing that our experiences will not end with death clearly fits into the “comforting” category of primal beliefs, but it also comes under the next category (fit with our existing world model) since our world model is built with us as an observer.  Try thinking of what happens after we die; whatever we imagine, we feel as if we are observing it, we feel as if we will continue.  It feels right that we have souls.

What are the signs that this is a primal belief?

The depressed feeling that we have imagining that a few generations from now we will be completely forgotten is our primal belief preference steering us towards the concept of an eternal soul, encouraging us to believe that we will never cease to exist.

Primal Beliefs Resulting from the Fit with Our Existing World Model

Our confidence is increased if we feel that we understand the world around us, so the sorts of belief that we find appealing are:

1. That the Universe is solitary and finite 

Our experience of the world, as we were evolving, was finite.  Anything beyond the horizon was of no relevance to us. While very, very far away was a useful concept, infinity was completely alien to us, so we have a hard time accepting anything going on forever; there are no infinities in our evolved mental model of the world.  Furthermore, our model of the world is based on our experience of who we are as an individual, as a solitary person, so it is hard to conceive of other versions of us out there (as would have to be the case in an infinite multiverse). 

What are the signs that this is a primal belief?

Try to imagine the universe going on forever; it is very hard to visualize. It is easier to imagine that it ends at some point, perhaps at some immense barrier, but this does not help our mental picture at all because we cannot conceive of a barrier without something on the other side. This failure of our imagination is a sign that, at a very fundamental level, our mental equipment resists the idea of infinity.

2. Our consciousness is  who we are

Our consciousness is how we access our internal model (and that model is largely built up through our conscious experiences), so it feels as if our consciousness is all that we are.

What are the signs that this is a primal belief?

When our actions are guided through our subconscious, perhaps through some insidious advertising techniques (without realizing why, we find ourselves wanting the watch James Bond wore in Casino Royale), it is irritating to us.  This is not the case if we are convinced to buy something by appealing to our consciousness.  This irritation is a sign that, on a primal level, we do not consider our subconscious to be who we are.

Primal Beliefs Resulting from Our Need to Bond with the Group

1. Morality comes from a higher power and thus has authority

This is comforting because it increases confidence that the moral code, the guidance that we have on how to live our life, is well-defined and correct, and that it will generally be followed by others (it is comforting to know that generally our neighbors have a similar view to ours about the wrongness of breaking into homes for fun and daubing the walls with pitch).  That there is an absolute morality is easy to believe if we also believe in a higher power that can act as its source.

What are the signs that this is a primal belief?

The majority of people believe that female circumcision is “just wrong” and can get understandably angry if anyone disagrees. The certainty over such issues stems from a deep-seated conviction that there is an absolute morality that we should all adhere to.

Primal Beliefs Resulting from Our Need to Interact with the World

1. Lasting happiness is achievable

Believing that we can achieve happiness is one of the ways that we are wired up to do things that are of evolutionary benefit to us.  It is one of the carrots that guides us (just as fear is one of the sticks).  Believing that buying that new house will make us happy encourages us to work hard to obtain such a place of shelter and security.

What are the signs that this is a primal belief?

This is a very strong primal belief preference, which we can experience directly in the irresistible conviction that if we just do this one thing then we will finally be happy, even though, when it happens, there always seems to be a new obstacle that prevents true happiness.  That we are so sure that happiness is always just around the corner (even though it always remains just around the corner), is a sign that this is a primal belief.  The primal, deep-rooted nature of this belief preference is clear in the confused nature of our feelings about happiness: we think that eating the chocolate cake will make us happy, even though a logical analysis will quickly tell us that afterwards we will fall into a deep pit of despair, fretting about our waistline and poor willpower and, averaged over time, the negative feelings will outweigh the positive.  Indeed, if we try to capture that moment of happiness when we are actually eating the cake, it is very fleeting, if there at all, maybe just one or two mouthfuls, and then we are worrying about the scratch on our new car.  Despite all of this, our deep mental wiring still tells us that eating cake will make us  very happy.

2. True evil exists 

It is easier for us to interact with the world if we have clear categories that we can use to inform our actions.  For example, it is easier for us to decide who will be in our friend group if we have clear black and white buckets to put people in, such as: nice and nasty.  Acknowledging that everyone has shades of gray (performing pleasantly on the good days and unpleasantly on the bad) makes it harder to act decisively and avoid analysis paralysis.  In our ancestors’ primitive world, where resources were scarce, it was preferable to bond strongly with a few people to better capture and defend those resources, than to be vaguely associated with everyone.  The concept of true evil is thus an evolutionarily helpful one, reinforcing a black and white view of people.

What are the signs that this is a primal belief?

That this is a strong primal belief is supported by the eagerness with which we label people as: dictators, suicide bombers, child molesters, and so on.  Doing so means we know exactly how to feel about such people (without having to do some laborious analysis that might lead to complexity that would prevent decisive action).

3. Our motivations are too complex to fully understand

In our internal narrative we like to portray ourselves as unique, complex and unpredictable. This comforting view is reinforced by our tendency to focus on the differences between people which means that we do not notice quite how similar our motivations are.

What are the signs that this is a primal belief?

When someone says that we are “so predictable” it feels like an insult.  This sense of indignation is a sign that the belief that we are complex and unpredictable has primal roots.

5. True love exists

Natural selection wants us to pair bond for long enough to nurture our children until they are self-sufficient (a considerable time for humans).  However, we have not evolved to pair bond into our old, old age because our ancestors never lived that long.

What are the signs that this is a primal belief?  

That it is a primal belief is indicated by how prevalent a concept True Love is in our culture, even though there is a vanishingly small number of examples that we can point to in real life.  The popularity of the Rom-Com with its happy ending supports this view; we are hunting for evidence (even fictional evidence) that true love exists.

A Primal Belief Resulting from All of these Factors

God 

An interventionist God is a concept that applies to all of these factors, which is why such beliefs are so pervasive.

What are the signs that this is a primal belief?  

An indication that God is a primal belief, that we want desperately to believe in God, can be found in the eagerness to convert others to a religion.  Often such apostles are actually trying to further convince themselves by convincing others.

Reminder

As a reminder, just because these beliefs are primal does not mean that they are wrong, but it does mean that we should be particularly skeptical of them.