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The evolution of misbelief.

Ryan T McKay1, Daniel C Dennett

  • 1Institute for Empirical Research in Economics, University of Zurich, Zurich 8006, Switzerland. ryantmckay@mac.com

The Behavioral and Brain Sciences
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Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Evolutionary psychology suggests true beliefs are adaptive. However, this study explores how certain misbeliefs, like positive illusions, may have been systematically advantageous for survival and reproduction.

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Area of Science:

  • Evolutionary psychology
  • Cognitive science
  • Philosophy of mind

Background:

  • The default evolutionary assumption is that true beliefs are adaptive and misbeliefs maladaptive.
  • Humans are generally expected to accurately appraise the world, yet mistaken beliefs, delusions, and self-deception are common.
  • Misbeliefs can arise from system dysfunction (pathology) or normal operations (limited information).

Purpose of the Study:

  • To explain the existence of routine misbeliefs despite evolutionary pressures for accurate belief formation.
  • To distinguish between misbeliefs as system malfunctions versus adaptive design features.
  • To identify specific types of misbeliefs that may have been systematically adaptive in evolutionary history.

Main Methods:

  • Articulating a distinction between two types of misbelief: pathological and those arising from normal processes.
  • Analyzing misbeliefs that are not mere by-products of biased systems but adaptive in themselves.
  • Evaluating potential candidates for evolved misbeliefs against specific adaptive criteria.

Main Results:

  • Misbeliefs can be categorized into those resulting from dysfunction and those from normal belief-forming processes.
  • A subset of misbeliefs, considered design features, may have been systematically adaptive evolutionarily.
  • Positive illusions emerged as the only surveyed candidate meeting the criteria for evolved, adaptive misbeliefs.

Conclusions:

  • While some misbeliefs are pathological, others may be evolved design features conferring adaptive advantages.
  • Positive illusions represent a specific type of misbelief that likely provided evolutionary benefits.
  • Understanding adaptive misbeliefs offers insights into human cognition and evolutionary psychology.