In his book Fantasyland, Kurt Andersen has made a very strong case for his theory that a significant portion of the present population has a perception of reality, a neuroreality, that is simply not true, that we are now in Fantasyland.

Here’s are additional quote from Andersen’s Fantasyland:

“For years, as a conservative radio talk show host,” Charlie Sykes wrote in early 2017, "l played a role in that conditioning by hammering the mainstream media for its bias and double standards. But the price turned out to be far higher than I imagined. The cumulative effect of the attacks was to . . . destroy much of the right's immunity to false information." The conservative talk-radio host John Ziegler made a similar confession in 2016: "We’ve effectively brain-washed the core of our audience. And now it's gone too far. Because the gatekeepers have lost all credibility in the minds of consumers, I don't see how you reverse it.”

Andersen’s Fantasyland has become reality to a significant portion of the US population, as he provided evidence for such over the last 500 years of settlement of the New World. Let’s review human evolution to see how believing the untrue may have come about:

Remember the 100 billion neurons in your brain create your global consciousness, your neuroreality. Let’s consider human evolution, brain function, cognitive bias, confirmation bias, argumentative theory and the tribal and warrior ethos as they may relate to neuroreality. As earlier mentioned, we evolved over the past 4 million years from Australopithecus, to Homo habilis, to Homo erectus, to Homo sapiens. Note that during these 4 million years there were other closely related human species, the most recent of which were the Neanderthals that went extinct only about 30,000 years ago, and floresiensis about 17,000 years ago.

In an extraordinarily complex world with an infinite number of stimuli and social circumstances that can surround an individual, perhaps it was beneficial to have a cognitive bias. Rather than analyze an infinite number of stimuli and social circumstances, the brain takes a short cut and has cognitive biases that allow the individual to make quick decisions and survive in his environment.  A cognitive bias might also explain an inherent fear of the unknown.

If a lone Australopithecus heard some rumblings in the brush, she would probably run and seek protection in a large group. If the sound was made by a large predator like a lion, that cognitive bias resulted in the individual not being killed by a predator. If the sound was made by a non-predator like an antelope, the individual didn’t have to leave for protection, the interpretation was untrue. But when in such a situation, if many individuals did not seek protection in a large group, chances are good a number of them would be killed by a predator, which would then lessen the chances of that species surviving. So evolution for the species genetically selected this cognitive bias short cut, even though in more cases it is untrue. Fear of the unknown is the result of cognitive bias. 

If there was a tribe of 50 Homo habili that peered over a ridge and saw a group of 50 Homo rudolfensi that they had never encountered before, what should they do? Should all 50 Homo habili meander over the ridge unarmed and introduce themselves, should they just ignore the Homo rudolfensi and go on their way, would they scout the group and then decide to surprise attack, should they send a group of armed individuals to introduce themselves and their tribe. The best answer to this question is not known, but for survival of the Homo habili, walking up unarmed or ignoring the other group altogether could result in their annihilation. So a fear of the unknown, whether true or untrue, could be a tribal instinct that is itself a cognitive bias that has been genetically selected and helped the survival of our species and the extinction of others. And in this scenario, Homo habilis may have started projecting their cognitive biases forward in making a decision as to what to do upon encountering that unknown Homo rudolfensi tribe. Did they scout the village from afar and see evidence of their cognitive bias, their fear of the unknown?  This would then be a confirmation bias, which could very well influence their decision as to what to do, as in a surprise attack, and impact the survival of our species and the extinction of others.

Once the developing human brain had these cognitive biases as a means of survival, whether true or untrue, the next step as we just mentioned is to apply these biases in a forward manner in social context.  Once you have your cognitive biases in place, in new situations you look for confirmations of these biases.

Homo habilis

Homo rudolfensi

Recall Francis Bacon’s observation of confirmation bias back in 1620:

"The human understanding when it has once adopted an opinion (that may be untrue) draws all things else to support and agree with it. And though there be a greater number and weight of instances to be found against it (that are true), these things one either neglects and despises, or sets aside and rejects, in order for one’s former conclusions to remain intact.

 

Let’s review Argumentative Theory. Argumentative Theory is a concept proposed by Mercier and Sperber in, Why do humans reason? Arguments for an argumentative theory: "Reasoning is generally seen as a means to improve knowledge and make better decisions. However, much evidence shows that reasoning often leads to distortions and poor decisions. This suggests that the function of reasoning should be rethought. Argumentative theory claims that the function of reasoning is argumentative. It is to devise and evaluate arguments intended to persuade. Reasoning is adaptive given the exceptional dependence of humans on communication and their vulnerability to misinformation. Skilled arguers are not after the truth but after arguments supporting their views. This explains the notorious confirmation bias. This bias is apparent not only when people are actually arguing, but also when they are reasoning proactively from the perspective of having to defend their opinions. Reasoning so motivated can distort evaluations and attitudes and allow erroneous beliefs to persist. Proactively used reasoning also favors decisions that are easy to justify but not necessarily better. In all these instances traditionally described as failures or flaws, reasoning does exactly what can be expected of an argumentative device: Look for arguments that support a given conclusion."

So the Argumentative Theory as stated above explains the genetically selected human confirmation bias. So a more expanded explanation of human brain development may be that the genetically selected and neurologically wired cognitive biases (which may have been untrue) resulted in the development of confirmation biases (which may have been untrue) that explain the thought processes (which are untrue) described in the Argumentative Theory.

This confirmation bias in Homo habilis could have then lead to the Argumentative Theory, an extension of confirmation bias as described above, which may have developed just before and as Homo erectus migrated out of Africa 2 million years ago and was the premise upon which they formed more complex tribes that allowed them to migrate and inhabit most of Eurasia. These tribes were the basic unit of human existence.

Homo erectus survived in Africa until about 300,000 years ago and evolved into Homo sapiens. Perhaps prior to this time, Homo sapiens developed the warrior ethos: I am a warrior and member of the tribe. I will fulfill my duties to the tribe with Selfless Service and Personal Courage. The tribe comes first. I will die for the tribe.

With cognitive and confirmation bias and argumentative theory, this Warrior Ethos was fully developed 70,000 years ago, and Homo sapiens exited Africa and migrated throughout and conquered the entire world. This migration took place over 70,000 years, and led to the extinction of all other hominids leaving Homo sapiens as the sole surviving human species. As stated in The Tribe and Modern Society, these Homo sapiens must have outfought, outhunted and outbred everyone else.  This genetically evolved and selected Warrior Ethos, prominent at the exit of Homo sapiens from Africa 70,000 years ago, lead to the dominance of this human species and the extinction of others. These are the hominids that modern humans are descended from, and it may well be because of the Warrior Ethos.

Recall, your brain has 100 billion neurons and 100 trillion synaptic connections that create the perception of your immediate surroundings, your consciousness. Another layer of processing below your immediate consciousness are those 100 billion neurons processing all the selected information and input you’ve received over your lifetime. And hardwired within your brain processing all that information are the cognitive biases, confirmation biases and argumentative theory, which may generate perceptions that are untrue and have a direct impact on how you perceive the world around you, your neuroreality.



What about the current US President and his neuroreality?  Read Chapter 24.

Chapter 23

Fantasy Has Become Reality

13 minute read

10 minute video