Understanding "Anchor Beliefs"

What are anchor beliefs? Come aboard the SS Thought Leadership, hoist the scuttlebutt, and I'll spin a yarn.

Anchor beliefs are convictions that remain fixed even when faced with contradictory evidence, and we all have them. Strong beliefs shouldn't be wishy-washy and flip completely based on moderate counter-evidence, they should adjust somewhat. When they don't budge at all, it's worth asking yourself, "If this belief were false, would I want to know?" While these beliefs aren't necessarily wrong, and many are accurate, the problem is that they are held as if indisputable truths rather than hypotheses open to revision.

Not all anchor beliefs are created equal. For example, steel anchors are beliefs supported by overwhelming, valid evidence (like 1+1=2). They provide a sturdy foundation for understanding reality and rarely, if ever, need revision. Tin Anchors are foundational beliefs we can't change our minds about, despite lacking solid evidentiary support. These are problematic because they shape our worldview without warranting that influence. So, why would a tin anchor form in the first place?

• Structural dependence: Too many beliefs pile onto one foundational belief, making it impossible to question without collapsing your entire belief system.
• Cognitive stability: Having some model of the world beats having none. When anchor beliefs fall, we experience disorienting confusion that disrupts our ability to make predictions.
• Social conditioning: Growing up in communities with poor epistemic standards can cement beliefs as unshakable, especially when trusted sources repeatedly affirm them without evidence.
• Predicted consequences: When your brain anticipates severe negative outcomes from abandoning a belief, changing your mind becomes psychologically dangerous, like holding two fistfuls of chum and jumping into the shark's domain.
• Trauma overgeneralization: Shocking experiences can create rigid beliefs that extend beyond appropriate boundaries.

While it is difficult to cut a tin anchor loose it is not difficult to identify them by considering some questions:

1. What beliefs did I absorb from my community that I can't imagine questioning yet people in other communities don't share?
2. What viscerally shocking experience might I have overgeneralized to shape my current worldview?
3. What would people from other communities identify as my anchor beliefs?

You can think of tin anchors functioning like dark matter in that they are invisible yet influential. And while we automatically dismiss skepticism toward them to avoid worldview disruption recognizing them is the first step toward building beliefs on firmer ground. Acknowledge that people have these almost unquestionable beliefs and the world makes more sense.

PS This is about the effects of all forms of media on how each of us hammers out our own tin anchors and how we might throw them away.