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The Complexity of Wild Beliefs
(9 minute read)
Key Takeaways:
- Belief is deeply human: Our urge to believe in something—especially something meaningful or reassuring—is a fundamental part of human psychology.
- Comfort often outweighs truth: Many beliefs persist not because they are well-supported, but because they provide emotional security, identity, or a sense of control.
- Emotion drives persuasion: From propaganda to modern media, influential figures have long understood that people are moved more by feelings than by facts alone.
- Critical thinking requires effort: Resisting comforting but unsupported beliefs demands humility, self-awareness, and a commitment to evidence over intuition.
The stories we tell ourselves about what is “good” quietly shape our lives. These are our comfort beliefs—the reassuring narratives that make us feel safe.
Today we’ll explore what it really means to say “it’s worth it.” We’ll look at how to recognize when comfort beliefs are holding us back, how to discover value in struggle and uncertainty, and how to trust that the time, effort, and heart we invest beyond our comfort zone can shape a life that feels truly our own.
In his NYTimes bestseller, Why People Believe Weird Things, Michael Shermer explores why intelligent, well‑meaning people come to accept extraordinary and often unfounded claims.
Drawing on psychology, history, and case studies—from conspiracy theories to pseudoscience—he argues that belief comes first and reasoning follows, as our minds naturally seek patterns and confirmation.
Ultimately he makes the case for scientific thinking and skepticism as tools not to dismiss meaning, but to better align our beliefs with evidence and reality.
Why We Believe Unusual Things
- ESP
- UFOs are aliens
- UFOs are demons
- The earth is really flat
- Climate change is a hoax
- Crystals have healing powers
- Conspiracy theory of the day
- Microchips are in vaccinations
- The moon landings were faked
- Egyptian pyramids were built by aliens
What is happening in America that leads people to embrace these kinds of ideas? Why do some place their trust in beliefs that appear to contradict science or everyday experience?
Many different explanations have been proposed.
- Absent parents
- Terrible students
- Terrible teachers
- Lack of reading
- Lack of expertise
- Lack of education
- Terrible role models
- Lack of trust in institutions
- Lack of critical thinking skills
- Lack of respect for education
- Too much access to the internet and social media
- Media, politicians, religious leaders, institutions, etc.
Any of these factors, or some combination of them, could help explain what is going on. There is likely no single, simple reason people are drawn to certain theories. If there were, we could address it quickly and move on — but reality is more complicated than that.
Comfort Over Truth
It may feel as though we are living in uniquely foolish times, but nothing could be further from the truth. Throughout history, people have repeatedly embraced unconventional or unfounded beliefs. Even thoughtful, intelligent people sometimes hold ideas that simply are not true.
It may be tempting to mock people who hold such beliefs, but all of us are susceptible to unwise thinking, and most of us fall into it from time to time.
- Four in 10 Americans think that UFOs are evidence of alien spacecraft visiting Earth from other planets or galaxies
- In a 2021 survey on American beliefs 10% of the respondents believed the statement, “the earth is flat,” 9% said they were unsure (leaving only 81% to say the earth was NOT flat)
- In the same survey 12% of the respondents agreed with the statement, “NASA did not land on the moon,” while 17% said they were unsure (leaving only 71% to say that NASA DID land on the moon)
- In a late 2023 poll 36% of Americans believed Donald Trump won the 2020 presidential election (leaving 62% to say Biden won with 2% offering no opinion)
You might feel it is harsh to call certain ideas or people “stupid.” Let me explain what I mean. The Oxford English Dictionary defines stupidity as “having or showing a great lack of intelligence or common sense.” Some people may display this more often than others, but every one of us has moments of weakness when we act without intelligence or common sense.
To borrow a phrase, “stupid is as stupid does.”
It may be tempting to dismiss people who hold beliefs we see as “stupid.” Yet many of these views grow out of sincere efforts to grapple with the big questions that have challenged humanity for generations.
- How did we get here?
- How did “here” get here?
- What does it all mean?
- Why is there suffering?
- What happens after death?
Questions like these, whether they grab your attention or not, all point to a larger issue: “How do we make sense of the world we live in?” Consciously or not, every one of us is looking for meaning. It is a question that nearly every human being carries and wrestles with at some point.
If we measure belief by the sheer number of answers offered over the centuries, one thing becomes clear: none of these questions has been definitively resolved. Across cultures, there is no shared agreement on a single meaning of life. The many answers we give tend to offer either a sense of significance or hopelessness, validation or wishful thinking. More precisely, most meaningful answers provide either comfort or, conversely, anxiety.
There may never be a single, definitive reason why people hold these beliefs. Still, we can examine some of the motivations behind their choices and consider what leads people to accept certain claims as true, even when they conflict with established facts and sound reasoning.
Comfort Beliefs
Many of us cling to certain beliefs because they comfort us. We want them to be true, because they help us feel safe, hopeful, and reassured. That sense of comfort can be incredibly powerful.
When 67% of Americans say they believe in heaven, it likely reflects something deeply rooted in human nature. Likewise, the 59% who believe in a literal hell may take comfort in trusting that justice will ultimately prevail. The belief that good is rewarded and evil is punished—especially when it comes to those who have wronged us—can offer a powerful sense of reassurance and moral order.
Our urge to seek comfort runs deep. Some scientists believe it’s an evolutionary habit that lingers in our minds—a kind of superstition that once helped people cope with uncertainty. Today, these beliefs can still feel like a way to claim a bit of control over the unpredictable events in our lives.
“If I do good things, I will be rewarded. If I do bad things, I will face the consequences.” For many people, beliefs like this provide a way to make sense of life’s randomness and unfairness. When someone offers a more evidence-based explanation instead, it can feel like a direct challenge to generations of people who have drawn comfort and meaning from these ideas.
Comfort is closely linked to our emotions. Even Madison Avenue and Wall Street recognize this. In the United States, people often make decisions more on the basis of feeling than of fact. In his 2009 bestselling book, The Mind of the Market, Michael Shermer shows how many financial choices are driven primarily by emotion rather than by deliberate, rational thought. This idea is not new, but it is still highly relevant today.
Edward Bernays, who called himself the father of modern public relations, grasped this emotional side of human nature early on. Born in Vienna in 1891, he was the nephew of Sigmund Freud (yes, that Freud). Drawing on his uncle’s ideas about society and the human mind, Bernays applied them to the emerging fields of communication and persuasion. By the 1910s, he was already turning these theories into practice.
We might know far less about Sigmund Freud if not for his nephew. Edward Bernays actively promoted Freud’s writings, even though Freud doubted that Americans would appreciate his work, seeing them as either uninterested in it or unable to understand it. Freud’s opinion began to shift once his books started selling well in the United States. At that point, he warmly welcomed his nephew’s efforts.
Bernays argued that people do not always reach decisions through reason alone. Instead, they are frequently driven by hidden impulses, ingrained habits, and powerful emotions. His message to marketers was clear: do not depend solely on logical arguments to persuade. Appeal to people’s feelings, their sense of responsibility, their everyday routines, and their deeper, often unspoken desires.
By the 1920s, Bernays was among the first consultants to help corporations link their products with social and political causes. While working for the American Tobacco Company, for instance, he encouraged women’s rights marchers in New York City to carry Lucky Strike cigarettes as symbolic “Torches of Freedom,” associating the brand with women’s liberation.
In Mind of the Market, Shermer revisits Bernays’ ideas and reinforces them with up-to-date research in cognitive science and neuroscience. His conclusion echoes Bernays’ original insight: rather than pouring all your energy into proving that people “need” your product or service, first understand their underlying needs, wants, and desires—and then present what you offer in a way that speaks directly to those deeper motivations.
This insight carries real weight. If emotions so often drive everyday choices, imagine how powerfully they can shape what people believe about faith, science, education, or religion. In these deeply personal areas, where comfort, identity, and meaning matter so much, feelings can be especially influential.
Recently, I wrote in more detail here about certain Christian views of the afterlife. I spent half my life believing them, and they brought me great comfort. The promise of eternal life in perfect peace is deeply appealing—who wouldn’t find hope in that?
The urge to believe in something is deeply human. That longing can offer profound comfort and a powerful sense of meaning, and its pull on us should never be underestimated.
This essay was originally published with the title Comfort Beliefs: Embracing False Ideas. It has been edited for clarity and continuity.
Sources
- Stuart Ewn, PR! A Social History Of Spin, Basic Books, 1996
- Michael Shermer, Why People Believe Weird Things, W.H. Freeman & Co., 1997
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