The Big Ideas
An extreme overvalued belief is one that is shared by others in a person’s cultural, religious, or subcultural group. The belief is often relished, amplified, and defended by the possessor of the belief and should be differentiated from an obsession or a delusion. The belief grows more dominant over time, more refined and more resistant to challenge. The individual has an intense emotional commitment to the belief and may carry out violent behavior in its service.
Psychiatry and indeed society at large must embrace the definition of extreme overvalued beliefs to describe rigidly held, non-delusional thinking which is shared by others. Why? Because doing so will yield more concise definitions of violent behavior to be used in criminal proceedings, as well as aiding in the identification of perpetrators before they carry out their heinous deeds. Without a better understanding of how extreme overvalued beliefs lead to violence, the violent attacks we have come to expect on an almost-daily basis will continue.
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Internet Cognitive Isoforms
What might some people see online that provokes them to believe in extreme overvalued beliefs?
Internet cognitive isoforms are cognitive illusions– similar to optical illusions but involves thinking instead of seeing something that is not real or is a distortion of reality.
Let's consider how our brains can quickly adopt a belief that is not real. Scientists have known about visual and image illusions for over a hundred years- beginning with photography.
How does a flipbook trick us into seeing cartoon stick figures that appear to move?
In 1912 Max Wertheimer introduced the term phi phenomenon (perception of apparent movement). He described the optical illusion of apparent movements when two optical stimuli are presented with alternating high frequency. This explains how cartoons trick the mind— sequential drawings in animation cells are displayed in rapid sequence, giving them life.
The internet does much the same with beliefs called internet cognitive isoforms- a piece of information learned online that is used to connect the “cognitive dots.” Social media, like an optical illusion, allows for the rapid intake of information which, through cognitive short cuts, saves brain energy. New beliefs that fit in with our prior identity, religion or culture are quickly accepted by our brains as true, because it feels normal and natural to us. Others see them as odd, weird or scary.
On social media, the more “views” or “likes” (thumbs ups, hearts) that a social media post receives, the more it is believed—even if it is wrong, allowing the growth and nurturance of internet cognitive isoforms. If tens of thousands of people agree that COVID-19 vaccination is dangerous, how could that be wrong? And yet it is. The effect is especially strong if shared by someone the user knows and respects – or thinks they know, such as a celebrity. This cognitive illusion can be weaponized during political movements or terrorist recruitment efforts. Treading on moral codes becomes a matter worth fighting for and even dying for, the cognitive fuel for individuals that harbor extreme overvalued beliefs.
School shooters are often seduced by radical online depraved subcultures. Shooters are not mentally ill (legally speaking), they are radicalized. Kids at all grade levels must learn about and confront these ideologies.
Can we do this? YES
Extreme overvalued beliefs spring from strong affective experiences and are felt as “normal” by the individual, such as passionate political, religious, sexual or ethical conviction. They are marked by several warning signs prior to an attack which behavioral science is beginning to understand. It must be remembered that they are not the same as psychotic delusions or obsessions-- both terms which are loosely used by all of us.
In fact, depression, anxiety, and substance use, etc don't cause people to become a mass shooter. However, these conditions can make people use less critical thinking, and more short-cut thinking.
Consider:
"I am going to leave my mark for everyone to remember."
"I will be famous and others will follow me."
Psychiatrists are quite familiar with treating eating disorders, usually seen in young women and girls, which are also driven by overvalued, shared cultural beliefs (i.e. to be thin and more desirable). Each patient requires a personalized approach to her disorder. Some need medication, and some need guidance or both. Group and family therapy help. It is very treatable. Let's explore this.
Eating disorder treatment: An analogous opportunity
Harvard psychiatrist Anne E. Becker wrote Body, Self, and Society: The View from Fiji. She extensively studied the effects of television on cultural norms on the island of Fiji in the 1990's. Television was not yet available on this remote pacific island. Girls in Fiji were free of eating disorders and it was considered healthy and great to eat lavish meals and be a bit plump. But, television finally arrived. After just a few years of viewing soap operas (think gorgeous girls on Beverly Hills 90210) along with sexy models in commercials, adolescent girls began developing eating disorders- a mysterious new disorder to the island.
Watch: Anne E. Becker, MD
Patients often get "stuck" in their behavior, a unique "brain circuit":
Watch: Joanna Steinglass, MD
Like the girls on Fiji, young people can identify with online cultures and develop overvalued body dysmorphia (think incels). Others, might follow white supremacy, Islamic jihadist ideology or study prior mass murderers. Such individuals often have overvaluation and dichotomous (binary) thinking. Each also have an online subculture or cult-like following.
A robust approach used to prevent eating disorders in adolescent girls is an intervention known as the “Body Project.” It is based on the social psychological principle of cognitive dissonance: the contemporaneous experience of conflicting attitudes, beliefs, or behaviors in a person. The main intervention, led by psychologist Eric Stice, involves encouraging participants to take an active stance by arguing against the culturally mandated thin ideal. Participants experience cognitive dissonance and actually shift their belief systems to align with a healthier anti‐thin ideal stance. The Body Project has been demonstrably successful in numerous high schools, over 140 college campuses, and with over 3.5 million girls and young women in 25 countries. This project revealed an incredible 60% reduction in the number of expected cases of eating disorders that would have theoretically emerged without this cognitive based intervention.
Since we know cognitive dissonance works, we can develop artificial intelligence (AI) strategies to decrease binary thinking by simply introducing more counter-balancing information. That way, free speech is protected and it yet it keeps all of safe.
If we think of eating disorders as part of a subculture, we can better understand how this condition overlaps with other depraved subcultures which we know often idolize prior shooters as role models. While it may not be possible to scan brains of people to study this, we can still learn from people with similar fixations.
Utilizing a train‐the‐trainer approach, while protecting first amendment rights, the Body Project’s concept of cognitive dissonance could be harnessed as a valuable template for countering extreme overvalued beliefs—an important step in stopping school shootings by the end of the decade. This will require an effort similar to the moon landing or response to covid-19.
Learning three concise definitions of violent behavior is an aid in the identification of perpetrators before they carry out their actions.
