Do our brains interpret our values and beliefs as facts (objective truths)?
Decades ago, sociologists Berger and Luckmann argued just this. From their perspective, successful socialization occurs when an individual internalizes a given group or culture's beliefs/norms/values to such an extent that these are "reality" for them.
So in other words, just as this Pepsi can I am drinking from is blue and red, so to, for me, was George W. Bush a lousy president (and of course, if you believe the opposite, it is a fact for you that he wasn't). I must confess that even after pondering these ideas for so long, I still get queasy thinking that "George W. Bush was a lousy president" is just an opinion. I cannot shake it. It is like there is an automatic impulse that I have to fight to realize it isn't a fact.
Recent research explored this sort of automatic impulse. Hooked up to an FMRi machine, participants listened to arguments that were against their political beliefs. The results were quite interesting. Such messages caused activation in the brain region that is responsible for error detection. So in other words (and yes, I am grossly simplifying here), it was as if people's brain's were indicating "error, error, error; this message does not compute."
This is consistent with research by Emily Pronin (psychology professor at Princeton University), which shows that people of all beliefs see their own beliefs as LESS biased than others. In other words, republicans see themselves as less biased, and so do democrats, and for that matter, so do mailman, corporate CEO's and homeless people.
I think this goes a long way in explaining the depth and extent to which people defend their beliefs. Perhaps, Berger and Luckmann are right; we do live, in some sense, in alternative forms of reality. Sure, we all know a rock won't bite us and 2 + 2 = 4, but what I "know" (George W. Bush was lousy) is not what many Republicans "know" (George W. Bush was a good president).
I will leave with another example I think sums this up well. When I teach cultural psychology, I have said statements like, "this tribe believes that the world came from a coconut shell (class laughs). That is absurd right (class agrees). We all know God created the world in 7 days and then took a well-deserved nap. It was hard work making women out of a man's rib."
The gist is that most of the class doesn't realize I am making a joke or being sarcastic. They just nod and agree.
(Note: I am about to begin research to test if we percieve, at a very basic level, our values as more facts than opinions. I will keep you all posted).
