Delusion: a belief that isn't true
Delusional: inability to distinguish between what is real and what seems to be real
latin from deludo: to deceive or dupe
Delusional disorder, according to the Encyclopedia of Mental Disorders, appears in the person who is convinced of an irrational belief to such an extent that he or she refuses to change his mind even when presented with proof that contradicts that belief.
(hey, that's.....hmmmm)
Sounds like that could describe you a little, right, but we're talking about things like someone who is convinced they are being watched or under surveillance, someone who believes that Brad Pitt secretly loves them, people who are irrationally convinced that their spouse is cheating on them, the person who believes he has been given a special revelation from a spiritual power, or that aliens have planted a creature inside him who is eating his brain.
Okay, so maybe I don't have the disorder, but that definition still hits pretty close to home.
Cambridge Neuroscience published an article titled "The Deluded Brain" that includes their recent findings in exploring why our brains are subject to delusional thoughts. "We learn by our mistakes" they explain. Dopamine neurons in our brain cells receive information and from that we learn to predict what will probably happen next time. If future information presents a contradiction to the first prediction, our brains should reason a way to choosing the more likely prediction and adjusting our beliefs. But our brains don't always do that, can't always be relied upon to be able to choose what is the most probable.
So why do we sometimes believe the option that is least probable?
What influences that decision? Why do we give more credence to some evidence over another?
Are we biased in our beliefs, predisposed to accept one system of truth over another in the absence of evidence or in the presence of a more logical explanation?
When others tell us we are wrong, we stick to what we have experienced, discarding any evidence because it cannot outweigh the presupposed bias to truth that we are already convinced to be true.
Sure, we don't all suffer from delusional disorder, but doesn't it often seem like we are all genetic cousins to the disorder?
In answer to his question "Is healthy belief formation optimal, or are we all deluded?", Rob Hoskin, PhD student in the Neuroscience Department of Sheffield University, writes this observation in his August 12, 2012 blopost on British Science Association Brainwaves, "most people display a "belief bias", the tendency to evaluate the validity of evidence based on their prior beliefs, rather than on the inherent validity of the evidence as could be assessed through logical reasoning." He goes on to say, "we have a bias towards evaluating beliefs more in terms of their inherent probability (as we see it) without fully taking into account new evidence," concluding that since the coded transmission of neural signals are influenced by a significant amount of noise, "differences in beliefs between people are presumably therefore inevitable, as is the likelihood that we all, at some time, adopt irrational convictions. Of course these are just things that I believe, and I may be deluded in believing them!"
"When it is not in our power to determine what is true, we ought to follow what is most probable," says Rene` Descartes, 17th century French Philosopher, best known for his statement "I think, therefore I am".
Descartes assumes that we can and will follow the path of greatest probability, but is that true? Even he based his whole approach to philosophy on one night of intense dreams that he had while shut up in a heated room. How rational is it to trust in visions you receive in a hotbox? It would seem that Descartes, the father of modern philosophy, succumbed to building his own truth off of an irrational experience.
I think I have a good grasp on this probability factor for determining truth, but then my daughter said to me the other day, "sometimes you couldn't see truth when it was staring you in the face." "Really," I said, "give me an example." I know, what was I thinking? Anyway, she proceeded to dramatize an evening at the dinner table where she, my husband and I were eating, and I asked how the food tasted? She tells me, "we said, 'it's good, but a little salty', and suddenly you, Mom, threw up your hands (this was where she got dramatic) and said 'fine! I'm never going to cook again.' We said, "Mom, it's good", but it didn't matter. You kept arguing, "No, no, it's too salty, I'm a terrible cook. You won't have to eat my food anymore," continuing to mutter, "that's the last time I'll ever cook."
Our brains are wired to mis-fire.
As I said before, we would like to think that we are rational beings, capable of thinking our way to truth.
But then my version of the truth makes total sense to me, seems completely rational from my perspective. I've got all the proof I need to be convinced of my truth. Why can't you see it!
Don't be duped, you can't arrive at truth in the flesh.
Stop deluding yourself.
Truth is the indispensable role of the Spirit.
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