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The Psychology of Belief
What does it mean ‘to believe’?
How do we come to our beliefs?
How does science matter?
David Hume
1711
1775
1711 -- 1775
Impressions
Ideas
Beliefs
Alexander Bain
1818 – 1903
Belief
Action
Affect
Belief
Action
Maintaining a Belief
Confirmation
Disconfirmation
Change Belief
Science
Knowledge accrued through
Scientific Inquiry
Attributes of Science


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Evidence Based: Observation
Tentative
Self-Correcting: Critical Assessment
Social Consensus
But…


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Scientific knowledge differs from other
knowledge
But…
Is the process of forming scientific beliefs
different from the process of forming
other beliefs?
The Social Dimension
Idea Spaces
Extra-somatic Repositories of
Knowledge
Implications
We depend on the Reliability and Validity of
the Content in Idea Spaces
Relevance

Education & Beliefs

Beliefs, Judgment & Our Hidden Selves
Comparing Kinds of Beliefs:
Science versus Religion

Ideaspace: Knowledge Repository

Authorities

Process of Believing: Downloading from
Ideaspaces