Belief and the Brain

As alum of USC, I receive its magazine called USC-Dornsife on a regular basis.  In its latest issue which just came out there is a story about Belief and the Brain, based on scientific research.

It’s a known fact that people are hardheaded when it comes to their political beliefs, even when they are provided with indisputable facts.  A clear case in point is Donald Trump and his followers.

In light of all contradictions, blunders, scandals and out-right lies he has made during the campaign and his days as president, his followers still believe them as facts.  Their minds are made up and they are unwilling to change their minds by any facts provided by the rational media.  So we are living in a world of alternate reality where facts and truth are distorted.

Now the USC-Dornsife scientists have provided evidence that political beliefs act like religious beliefs.  “To determine which brain networks respond when someone holds firmly to a belief, neuroscientists compared whether and how much people change their minds on non-political and political issues when provided with counterevidence.”

The study showed that “people who were most resistant to changing their beliefs had more activity in the amygdala and the insular cortex, compared with people who were more willing to change their minds.”  There you go, my friends.