# Struggles with forming a belief set We can think about beliefs that inform our behaviours and make up our life strategy as residing in a multi-dimensional space. Based on my experience it seems likely that there are clusters within this belief space representing the common sets of beliefs (ideologies) of different groups of people. Most people probably start with beliefs that are in close proximity to their parents and to their community. As they get older and expand their experiences they are exposed to different clusters of beliefs. One of those sets of beliefs will resonate with the person as being more strategically advantageous and they will adopt the beliefs of the cluster, possibly with some minor variation. I think the first experience of realizing there are 'better' beliefs comes through seeing other people who share beliefs and seeing that they are successful. Switching into a different cluster is more likely than having a completely independently derived set of beliefs, for the following reasons: - You find a group that is more successful than the group you previously belonged to and will imitate rather than rational analyze the basis of beliefs; - Being part of a group of people who share the same beliefs is clearly attractive and self-affirming; - If you are too materially different on any of those dimensions you will probably be convinced through some argument or narrative by the mass of people whose beliefs are more similar to yours. If the person seeks a more advantageous strategy they will inevitably be faced with. A more rational and advantageous set of beliefs will present themselves through bottoms up thought and analysis of how the world works. This set of beliefs might not yet exist in this combination, or you might not know whether it does or not. This is conceptually similar to Nate Eliason's theory of three levels of learning. Being material different from other people in a cluster puts a high emotional burden on an individual. They no longer have the support of many people for their configuration of beliefs, and no group to protect them. Your views become easy to dismiss in that scenario and force you to constantly re-evaluate them. How do you form the basis of your beliefs? How do you prevent yourself from being attracted to the emotional safety of belonging to a group? How can you alleviate the emotional exhaustion that comes with the constant challenge to your set of beliefs? How do you become comfortable with who you are, but not complacent? ## Related - [[Life Strategy]] - [[What is Ideology]] - [[Belief Formation]] - [[Cognitive Crisis from questioning beliefs]]