How different beliefs lead people with identical motivational systems to behave differently
We all have similar emotional systems, so why do we behave so differently?
I illustrated below how people who have identical drives and emotional systems with only different beliefs can end up behaving differently yet feeling internally the same.
I plan to represent it more graphically and pretty, but this is where I am so far. It shows that internally, we all think and react similarly. Only a slight difference in beliefs can lead to, say fighting in the case of patriotism, even though internally, people feel the same and are following the same emotional system.
If you have questions or comments about the table, please let me know. They will help me improve the model, which is only half-baked now.
| Â | Example (internal) | Same/different |
| Biological drives | Happiness, health, emotional reward, pleasure, reciprocity | Same |
| What we believe | Country X is best versus country Y is best | Different |
| Strategies | Support belief | Same |
| Behavior | Act on strategy | Same |
| Meaning | Doing what they feel is right | Same |
| Opinion of people who agree | Like. See as rational, intelligent | Same |
| Opinion of people who disagree | Dislike. See as making world worse, crazy | Same |
| Thoughts on own beliefs | Self-evident. Also supported by evidence | Same |
| Thoughts on beliefs of those who disagree | Unfounded, patently false. Falsified by evidence | Same |
| Debates based on whose beliefs | Their own, no one else’s | Same |
| Rejects whose beliefs | People who disagree | Same |
| Sources of beliefs | Own experience | Same |
| Amenable to convincing? | No | Same |
| How to influence | New experiences | Same |
| How advice sounds from people with different beliefs | Self-righteous, not understanding, imposing values | Same |
| How beliefs form | Exercise to the reader for now | Same |
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