Lewis Wolpert from the University College, London wrote a book on the false belief systems, called "Six Impossible Things Before Breakfast," where he explains how our evolution and the development of our tools may have influenced our belief in supernatural events.

 

Many – if not most – people in our modern society, which is said to be driven by latest science and technology discoveries, tend to believe in the supernatural. A recent study indicated that 80 million Americans, for example, are convinced that there are such things as alien abductions or ghosts. Wolpert's book, an obvious allusion to Lewis Carroll's "Through the Looking Glass," denies all that and further explores the origins and evolution of belief.

 

As he says, it all began when man differentiated himself from the other animals, when he was first able to put together parts of two different materials in order to make his first specialized tool. From then on, man thought there must be something that influences all things to happen as they do, a cause behind them all. Attributing this cause to this or that, general beliefs were born. Further search for a cause greater than all, one that would shape the entire universe as it is, led to the emergence of religion. Wolpert has been an atheist since the age of 16.

 

The "belief engine," as he and others call it, is located in the brain, and its continuous search for causes and reasons leaves some of us more prone to believe in things that just aren't there or haven't been proven at all. This is not to say that believing in them is all wrong. Giving the example of religion, he shows how brothers in faith tend to care for each other and be more likely to do good things.

 

Ever since Freud, it is said that what we believe is out of our control, but astronomer Carl Sagan subjected this to reason and stated his belief validity equation: extraordinary claims demand extraordinary evidence.