Have you ever wondered how people can believe something that seems so far-fetched? Whenever we aimlessly scroll through our Instagram feed, go down a Reddit rabbit hole, or binge YouTube videos, our minds are at work processing and interpreting the information we encounter. The posts with statements which engender anger, disgust or anxiety tend to stick. Such is the result of “internet cognitive isoforms” (see infographic) which are simple to understand, yet reveal a disturbing fact: It’s easy to deceive minds into believing things that are false or at least difficult to disprove.
Source: Tahir Rahman, MD/ Author Bytes
The Illusion of Truth
To understand internet cognitive isoforms, it’s helpful to step back and think about how our brains process visual illusions. As kids we connected dots to make a fun little picture. After a few minutes of dot-to-dot connections, a picture of a dog, cat, or pony appeared. Our brain also does that with all the information we see—forming many of our impressions about life, the world, religion, politics, you name it. Gestalt psychologists first discovered that the brain takes pieces of information to create something whole, regular, orderly, and simple. The dots first might look like a tail. Is it a dog’s tail? We soon find out. Our brain gets rid of all the dots and we only see an image in the end. Several laws were created from grouping images: closure, similarity, common fate, proximity, symmetry, continuation, etc. Optical illusions often use these laws: Is it two faces or one vase? A number 6 upside down or a 9? Some illusions take time to unlearn because of what we call an anchoring bias.
Let’s apply that concept to the information we consume online. Much like the dots, online spaces bombard us with rapid sequences of data—tweets, posts, comments—that our brains naturally try to piece together. We connect the “belief dots” in a simplistic way that aligns with our preconceived notions, beliefs, or biases. It’s an efficient way for our brains to make sense of the world. But there’s a catch. This mental shortcut can lead us down a dangerous path. Consider these binary beliefs:
- You can never be too thin.
- Black people are replacing white people.
- Abortion is always murder.
- The West is at war with Islam.
- Jews are disgusting, don’t trust them.
- The government will take all our guns away.
- All vaccines are dangerous.
- Immigrants are criminals who are taking our jobs.
What you will notice is that, depending on your prior learning, these types of beliefs get connected to prior beliefs. They may be completely meaningless to someone who has not learned the same things as another person. Depending on your previous learning (called schemas), they can make folks feel angry, disgusted, uneasy, anxious, or stressed. We find ourselves reacting to them (negatively or positively), perhaps even sharing them. They could be important after all, right? Maybe our safety depends on this? Maybe it is just plain morally wrong?
The Birth of Extreme Overvalued Beliefs
When we encounter specific ideas online repeatedly, especially those that resonate with our cultural, religious, or political views, they can transform into “extreme overvalued beliefs.” Delusions are false beliefs from psychotic illnesses, like schizophrenia. By contrast, extreme overvalued beliefs are shared and reinforced by others. What can seem like a wacky belief at first can end up driving some people to commit violent acts. It has little to do with how smart people are, and more to do with prior learned information (schemas). Your intelligent uncle or aunt might believe that the moon landing was faked or that vaccines have microchips in them. Are they crazy? No, they actually have a shared belief with many others of the same ilk. Antipsychotic drugs won’t change them.
Consider how social media amplifies beliefs. When a post garners thousands of likes or shares, it starts to feel validated: If so many people agree, it must be true, right? But if, for example, thousands of people believe that COVID-19 vaccination is dangerous, how could that be wrong? And yet, we know it is. This effect is even more substantial when the information comes from someone we trust: a public figure, a family member, a friend, or a mentor. The belief gains traction, embedding itself into our mental framework, and before long, it’s not just an idea; it’s a cause worth defending.
Beliefs Can Turn Violent
The real danger begins when these extreme overvalued beliefs start to justify harmful actions. Some online communities nurture beliefs that have led to real-world violence—whether through hate crimes, mass shootings, or even terrorist attacks. These beliefs, once fringe, gain a foothold in the mainstream through constant reinforcement online. Moral issues can grow into a grievance worth dying for (think the US Constitution, the Bible, the Koran, or other moral codes). That is how ideology frames targeted attacks like 9/11, the US Capitol attack, or assassinations. For example, the belief that a particular group is a threat to society can start as online chatter but quickly escalate to real-world aggression. The more these ideas are shared and echoed within an insular community, the more they seem justified. It’s an internet cognitive isoform at work, much like that of a dot-connected picture book: It feels and looks real, even though it’s not.
Breaking the Cycle
How do we counter this? The first step is awareness. This is called “cognitive inoculation.” Understanding that these cognitive isoforms can deceive our brains helps us become more critical of the information we consume. Remember, some of these beliefs are very difficult to disprove; for example, abortions may be taking a potential life, but we should be able to balance that against other moral and ethical considerations. Such perspectives are completely lost with short-cut thinking, because the person literally sees something the rest of us don’t.
Next time you scroll through your feeds, I challenge you to identify binary, simplistic, and absolute thinking. Is an internet post making you feel anxious (e.g. about vaccines)? Angry? (Maybe an election feels stolen.) Disgusted? (A war is killing babies.) Contempt? (Black people replacing white people.) Our brains emotionally tag the post and make it hard for us to resist its sway. Just because a celebrity liked a post doesn’t mean it was based on facts. Just because something feels real doesn’t mean it is. And when it comes to beliefs that can harm or marginalize others, it’s worth taking a few extra minutes to think more profoundly and research the facts. Our safety depends on it.
