ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on one of the most prominent brain functions in relation to religion, namely, beliefs. It discusses of the brain's role in biasing human beings toward supernatural beliefs. The chapter argues that we can indeed deploy both religious and non-religious techniques to resist tendencies toward cognitive error, while improving the beliefs we have. It explores that we are liable to cognitive errors in the form of self-defeating thought processes and behaviors that seem obviously stupid to ourselves and to others and yet are surprisingly difficult to change. The chapter discusses five basic transformational resources that support change in beliefs and behaviors, and thus offer basis for resisting our cognitive biases. The five resources are namely neuroplasticity, implementation intentions, ritual, unconscious processes and social inducements. The cognitive science of religion has particularly challenging implications for religious anthropology in regard to the truth of religious beliefs. The chapter discusses a representative selection of techniques here: meditation, psychotherapy, and rigorous intellectual training.
