Conflict of Beliefs

Copyright © 2023 Jacob Mbua Ngeve, PhD, FCAS.

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To my

niece, Christie Ngowo Diboto

Who died in my hands while bringing forth life,

the same day I was submitting this project to the press

and

To Yaya Sarah Etonde Mosoke

Who taught me to be patient in life

in spite of what beliefs I would have

CONTENTS

Acknowledgements

Preface

Introduction

PART I: GOING BACK WEST

1     Beliefs in Nature, Conflicts for Life

2     Human Trade by Barter

3     The Triangular Trade

4     Scramble for Africa

PART II: DIVIDING AFRICA

5     Partitioning of Africa

6     Legacy of Colonization in India

7     European Rivalry in Colonization and Imperialism

8     American Expansionist Ambitions

PART III: THE EASTERN EXPANSION

9     Japanese Expansionist Policy

10   Chinese Expansionist Tendencies

PART IV: LEGACY OF COLONIZATION

11   A New Order of The Ages

12   Management in French-Colonized Countries

13   Legacy of The British in Their African colonies

PART V: THIRD WORLD PROBLEMS

14   New Economic Order

15   Third World Threats on The Global Economy

16   Third World Leaders and Their Beliefs

17   A World without Crises

18   Dark Forests of Ignorance

PART VI: SUPERVISORY AUTHORITIES

19   Leaders and Riches

20   Christian’s View of Wealth

21   Supervising without Shame

22   Dogma of Ministerial Infallibility

PART VII: CONFLICTS OF THE NEW ORDER

23   Human Rights in Jeopardy

24   Snares without End

25   Civilization Struggle

26   Conflict of Beliefs

References

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

WHEN I WAS GROWING UP IN MUEA, CAMEROON, MY MOTHER KEPT telling me to be a patient boy. She told me that if I was patient to go through the hurdles of this world I was going to succeed. She reminded me of what she had always told me, namely that she was of the belief that I would survive and succeed only if I received an education, and that this education was going to make me grow, be great and be known in the country. I paid attention to my school work and excelled every step of the way. I am glad I had that kind of mother, a mother with a foresight. I heartily thank her for making me succeed in life as a scientist and as a research manager. If there is nothing I will leave with my children I will want them to study hard, excel in their educational endeavors and succeed even more than I had been.

Then in secondary school, my older sister, Christiana Enanga Ngeve, started serving as my second mother. Her performance in Cameroon Baptist Academy fetched me a scholarship from the American Baptist Associates. This education opened my eyes into post-secondary education in the Cameroon College of Arts, Science and Technology, and in professional school in the National College of Agriculture, eventually leading me to the United States for my university education. I sincerely thank her for paving my way to success. She is not here to see this but wherever she is she knows I think so fondly of the contribution she made to give me an education.

I want to acknowledge here the love of my oldest sister, Sophie Nduma Ngeve, for buying me the first set of Christmas clothing. Sophie may not remember how much I cherished the new clothes and the Bata shoes which I wore on that wonderful Christmas day, instead of the habitual khaki and green uniform. She may also have forgotten that she was the one climbing Raphia palm trees to cut leaves which I stitched into thatches and sold in the Buea Market. Sophie I heartily appreciate all the effort you made in bringing me up to now that I am a book writer.

My younger sister, Rebecca Eposi Ngeve, played an important role of comfort and support during my doctoral studies in Maryland. I thank her very much for being that kind of sister.

Emmanuel Ngeve and his wife Lucy Ngowo Lysonge, played the role of caring for me for the two months I was hospitalized in the University of North Carolina Memorial Hospital. I cannot forget the food they cooked for me daily and for the comfort they gave me as we all went through the trauma of not knowing whether my leg was going to be saved or not.

My son, David Ikome Ngeve, rescued me in several instances from the time I was admitted in the hospital till now. He rescued me from a sinking ship and sailed me safely to the shore. I really appreciate everything he has done in my life. I really thank him profoundly for his good heartiness.

During my professional career, I made very many trips to countries in Africa and other parts of the world, attending meetings, doing consultancy work and serving other institutions in Africa and Asia. I met several people during those trips and took down notes when they told me the histories of their countries. I owe these informants an immense debt of gratitude for the knowledge and information they willingly gave me.

I also met several research managers who shared with me the secrets of their leadership styles as they managed their research institutes. These pieces of information shaped the way I understood management could be in our African setting; the information helped me when I became a research manager and was confronted with a supervisory minister who had a different belief system from mine. I really thank them for all I was able to acquire from them as knowledge about our system.

My niece Christiana Evenye Evande served me as Director of my Cabinet when I was named Director General. She encouraged to me to write the wealth of experiences I had acquired during my working life so that it could inspire people coming after me. I really thank her for her service and her suggestions. Evenye I miss you so much and wish you well wherever you may be.

Finally, I have tears flowing down my cheeks when I think of my nice, Christiana Ngowo Diboto who lost her life during childbirth the same day I was submitting this project to the publishers. I thank God for giving her to us and for taking her to have a deserved rest in his Kingdom.

PREFACE

THIS BOOK, CONFLICT OF BELIEFS, HAS BEEN WRITTEN TO SHOW THAT strongly held beliefs lead to conflict. It exemplifies the conflicts that result from strong beliefs with the manner colonialism and imperialism was done in Africa, and how their legacy has continued to influence the way and manner in which Africans behave when they find themselves in positions of authority. Essentially, colonialism was the process of political and economic domination and the control of a country and its people by settlers from a foreign power. In this case, the colonial powers were European countries, fighting with each other to acquire as much foreign territory as possible in the Dark Continent of Africa which was virgin and endowed with enormous natural resources. When colonialists began scrambling for and partitioning Africa, their main goal was to make easy profit by exploiting the human and economic resources in the countries they colonized in the African continent. They also wanted to get markets in the colonized countries for the goods they were producing in their countries. They further wanted to guarantee trade routes to facilitate the movement of goods from from one part of the developing world to the other. Most importantly they wanted raw materials to fuel their many industries which had emerged during the industrial revolution. Side issues involved the spread of religion in the newly acquired colonies. The religions came in and changed the minds of the African people to believe that they were inferior, primitive, black and evil, and could only rely on westerners to get civilized.

They knew they were going to face opposition with the traditional chiefs of these colonies but they were comforted that they were going to use their military strengths, economic forces and political maneuvers to subdue and defeat them.

In imperialism, developed countries had a policy of extending their country’s powers and influence through diplomacy or military force. The colonial powers did several things that were unethical but they had to accomplish their aims because they needed those colonies. Slavery and slave trade had been properly installed as enslaved humans were traded for other goods. Slave labor was flourishing as it was used brutally to develop the cities, their ports and their plantations. Developed countries as a result rapidly became developed from the profits of using African labor. The African countries on which imperialism was practiced had rudimentary, traditionally manufactured equipment to fight back but were only favored at those early days by the spread of natural disasters like tropical diseases which attacked the Europeans and deterred them somewhat from penetrating from the coast to the hinterlands. However, this situation was reversed when modern medicine discovered medications which could combat these diseases.

Imperialism in Africa was a policy geared toward extending power and dominion, especially by direct territorial acquisition and by gaining political and economic control of those colonies, often through employing hard power (that is, economic and military power), but also through using soft power in the form of cultural and diplomatic means over the colonies they wanted to acquire.

The book has been written, among other things, to show how the people of Africa were tortured, how the countries of the African continent were partitioned and how the legacy of imperialism and colonization still lingers around today. It shows how that legacy has influenced the management styles of African leaders today. Colonization used the ideas of civilization and religion to penetrate Africa. Developed countries achieved their goal of getting rich from resources they wanted from the continent. But in most cases, it negatively affected the African countries and their people. Even countries which were colonized out of Africa were affected in the same negative manner. In later years, colonial powers have continued using their powers on the colonies they acquired by maintaining full control of their economies, military and their natural resources. The developing countries (in spite of being endowed with enormous natural resources) have become mostly dependent on them for their survival. To facilitate these ventures, the colonial masters continue to bring to power the kind of leaders they want in their former colonies, and to keep them there for as long as possible. This is because they found out quite early that it was easier to continue exploiting the human capital and natural resources in those colonies with the same leaders in place. This has of course resulted in corruption, looting, the predominance of civil unrest, social upheavals and coups d’etat in those colonies. The profits of these bad practices have shown that although most of these invaders were defeated and kicked out of Africa, imperialism which had to be a matter of the past has not been so; it has become a permanent condition, well after the colonies were liberated in the name of independence. We now see that the independence they gave Africa was conditional, and African countries have continued to be under the shackles of the westerners since then.

The former colonial masters have continued to have permanent military presence in those countries and having a hand in their military in the name of military attachés. They continue to control Africa’s economies, forcing them to using colonial currencies they established for them, and accusing them of lack of the capacity and knowledge in financial management. They still deplete and control Africa’s natural resources, eroding their cultures, dilapidating their landscapes and making them continue to remain even poorer.

The book is divided into 7 sections and 26 chapters most of them treating powerfully held beliefs about financial management and how these beliefs have led to most of the many conflicts in the continent and assassinations of several leaders in Africa.

I have always thought to myself that I had an obligation to leave with posterity the many ideas I have acquired during my extensive travel in Africa. As a research scientist for 35 years and research manager of a huge research institute for two years, I believe I have acquired a lot that can benefit the young ones coming after me; I also believe that I am uniquely suited to address the many issues I have discussed in the book because of the experience I have had, the many places I have visited, and people I have met, interacted with and worked with in Africa.

It has taken quite a while (at least three years) to write this book. I have certainly had many challenges in putting ideas together to write this book; I have been working and conducting research under dictatorship environments. I have been under management interference from supervisors. I have also spent a good bit of time in areas with a lack of adequate informational resources, especially at the early stages of the development of the book. I sincerely hope that the book will inspire young academics in developing themselves as scientists, as eventual research managers and as people using a holistic approach in evaluating the conflicting issues and beliefs which our leaders and managers have. If I achieve these, then I have made a contribution to managing science and knowledge for those coming after me.

INTRODUCTION

THE BOOK STARTS WITH BELIEFS AND THE CONFLICTS THEY CAUSE. Individuals have beliefs, nations have beliefs. If the belief an individual holds is meant to guide him into success, then that is a good one. I had a belief that I wanted to go the United States for university education. That belief was strong. I finally got into the United State. I had the belief that I wanted to have a terminal degree before age 30; I completed my PhD studies at age 29. That is certainly because my belief was accompanied by personal determination and God’s help. Dr. Lyonga, my mentor, had the belief of achieving a PhD in spite of his high position in society, and he had it. Mr. Maimo, another mentor, was already deputy director of our research institute, but believed that he needed a PhD; he took a study leave, left work and family to submit himself loyally to student life and obtained a PhD even though he knew he would have just two years to work with it before he was sent on retirement. So, we all had strong beliefs which led us to success.

Then the book treats a strong belief which European countries had to Scramble for colonies in Africa. This led to a comprehensive history of the colonization of the African territory and the European conquest of the Dark Continent from 1876 to 1912. The Scramble was because of the strong belief that European nations had in acquiring resources and wealth from Africa. It did not matter to them if it would become a source of serious conflicts among the European nations as well as conflicts with the chiefs they met in the African countries.

It then discusses the rivalry among European colonialists and how in many cases that resulted from the differences of highly held beliefs. Some European nations believed that they were early players in the acquisition of colonies; others felt that although they were late comers, they would be given their own shares in the partition of the continent. This rivalry led to conflicts among them, and these conflicts continue until this day.

The book examines European expansion in Africa and American expansionist policy. It then treats the Japanese ambitions and the colonies they finally acquired, as well as Chinese annexations and ambitions. The book goes on to discuss third world problems especially as they concern countries colonized by Europeans (Notably British, French and Italians) on the African soil and the legacy they left behind which is still a source of conflict until today. After a cursory look at African countries the book delves into some detail on one of the African countries, with the pseudonym of the Federal Republic of Tropicana. Here too it shows that strong beliefs held by leaders and their subordinates continue to fuel conflicts among them.

European countries had a strong belief in colonialization and imperialism because what became known as the industrial revolution meant an urgent need for raw materials to fuel their various industries. These raw materials they could mainly obtain from developing countries which they could easily conquer, control and exploit. America also later had expansionist ambitions which involved territorial or economic expansion. This policy eventually led to the acquisition of territory overseas by the USA. Japan had never been colonized by Europeans, Japan being one of the few countries that managed to resist European colonization. Instead, the country became a colonizer in its own right, leading to the country establishing a strong presence in Taiwan, Korea, and southern Sakhalin. China had for centuries maintained a Sino centrist approach to international relations. Its expansionist policy is now posing a threat to the world order as it is now increasing its territory by indulging in conflicts with many countries. China has made investments in acquiring several parcels of land in various countries in Africa to the point where it has been able to exert political and economic influence in those countries.

The book shows how, using this as a typical African example, an African scientist is named to head a large research institute but finds himself unable to execute his duties because of a greedy supervisory minister who knows nothing but asking for money and property from him.

The text then cites the management differences between French-speaking and English-speaking countries which the author has been privileged to work with, and shows how the legacy left by the colonizers has been a major negative influence in most of the cases and how this has, regrettably influenced their leaders to a large extent.

The book shows that in spite of the volume of work research managers in Africa are called upon to accomplish and given the vast forests of ignorance awaiting them, the only way they can succeed in their task is if they have understanding supervisory ministers who leave them alone to do their work. In the majority of research institutes in Africa, there are Employee Manuals which are supposed to guide research managers in performing their work. Nevertheless, the multiple requests, many of them unethical, made by the ministers who are named to supervise them make them unable to work because those leaders are instead a hurdle to the accomplishment of their activities.

The book mentions economic imbalances between First World and Third World countries and the belief that developed countries have that they affect the world economy. It shows that although the First World believes that Third World success is a threat to First World living conditions, there is no evidence to support that. It is the fear of Third World success, not the success itself which drives the First World to consider the Third World as a threat. It indicates that the success of the Third World should instead be considered an opportunity in balancing the world economy.

The document treats the issue of Ministerial Infallibility in some countries in which African ministers believe that they can get by with anything because they are in positions of authority. In many instances the ministers feel they are infallible especially as they have deep roots in the highest authorities in the country. This complicates the management process and makes them unable to accomplish anything.

The book compares the Christian’s view of wealth with the wealth of some African supervisory Ministers, and deplores the habit of accumulating enormous wealth at the detriment of performance and how such instructions from these supervisors could eventually lead them to jail.

The text then treats human right abuses within the context of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, using one Minister as an example of these violations. Some African leaders have the beliefs of inequality between themselves and those who they govern. These beliefs have led to several assassinations of their subjects in the continent, many times with the complicity of the West, especially in situations where the interests of the Western countries had been threatened.

Towards the end, the book points out that there is nothing without an end, although some people of authority like ministers think that their bad feelings and ambitions and unethical practices in wealth accumulation will continue for life. Belief systems generally lead to conflict and tension. The belief systems lead parties and nations to remain inflexible and unyielding to the opposing side; this entails conflict and tension.

The book concludes that differing beliefs and attitudes have their own legitimacy; they arise as a result of a community’s historical past, its struggles, its cherished memories and ways of living. At the end of the book, it is shown that nearly all strongly held beliefs lead to conflicts which often arise when differing approaches and belief systems come in contact, and this is a civilization struggle very much like a snare without an end.

PART I

GOING BACK WEST

CHAPTER 1

Beliefs in Nature, Conflicts for Life

WHEN I WAS AT THE END OF MY SECONDARY SCHOOL EDUCATION IN Cameroon Baptist Academy, I had tried to plan my life, although I knew I did not have a father, and my mother who was raising the five of us as a single parent would not have the resources to make us achieve our dreams. Nevertheless, I had a strong belief that I was going to succeed in life if that only meant working very hard. Yaya Etonde, our very supporting mother, kept encouraging us that all would go well; we would succeed if only we continued to work as hard as we had been doing in primary school. That was the springboard that kept paving my way to success.

I had worked so hard to get into secondary school. It was difficult to imagine how that came about. My older sister, Christiana Enanga Monjowa Ngeve, from her brilliant performance in Cameroon Baptist Academy, made me secure a scholarship from the American Baptist Associates that enabled me to sale across and get into secondary school. From there I kept dreaming; my dream was to reach for the stars. My great dream was to get an advanced education someday in the United States. God worked his regular miracles in my life and I finally got myself in the United States. But before I completed my post-secondary school studies in Bambili, Cameroon, I started thinking about the kind of career I would pursue if I got into the United States. I had planned to read pharmacy; at the time the American Pharmaceutical Education undergraduate degree in pharmacy was a Bachelor’s degree in pharmacy. My plan was not to end as a pharmacist. That was going to be a means to an end. My end was to be a medical doctor, which would make me finally achieve my passion in helping people. I also said that if I could not get into medical school in the United States I would do engineering, whatever that meant at the time. But as I finished secondary and post-secondary education in Cameroon, I got a scholarship through the Cameroon Government to do plant genetics for the Bachelors and Masters level. I seized that opportunity with the two hands. Then I started planning how my life would be with training in agriculture. My strongest belief at that time was to complete my PhD before 30; I believed in seizing that opportunity to get that terminal degree as early as 30 because I believed that it would advance my life and give me the resources and opportunity of serving my family, my country and my region. I did not believe in having a break in my studies because I thought that would distract me from achieving in record time the objectives I had fixed for myself. Throughout my long flight from Douala, through Lagos and to J.F. Kennedy Airport in New York, I started making a plan for my life. I made a road map which showed step by step, year by year how my schooling was going to be. I had this belief that I was going to succeed and achieve my objective now that I was going on scholarship; I would not have to strain myself to wash dishes in restaurants to make money to pay for my studies.

But after post-secondary school I won a scholarship into the National College of Agriculture Bambili, from where I graduated with an Agricultural Technical Officer diploma, and was posted to the Research as field technician. In my professional life as a research technician, I met a philanthropist, Dr Simon Ngale Lyonga. He decided to take off from where my mother had left. From his behavior toward me and the encouragement he was giving me I found him like one who would want to make a contribution to my development in this world. I soon learnt Dr Lyonga liked to help young people grow; but he also had a great passion for cars. he had a strong belief to a fault in driving any new car that was sent to his research center. I learnt very early in our relationship that if I wanted to be in good terms with him, I should never tamper with cars which he had at his disposal; these included the official cars in his research center. But his greatest passion was that he believed to be a planner of the life of youths who appeared focused in their ambitions to grow. He had a strong belief to make his subordinates develop. He would very early in his relationship with young workers identify a worker who had a talent. He would direct the worker appropriately and contribute in the development of that fellow to the highest level he or she could reach. That is how he was able to quickly build a strong and respected research team by identifying young scientists in his root crops program and give them the chance to develop into good scientists in their respective fields of research interest. He also had a strong belief in being at the top of everything. At a time when scientists did not know anything about publishing the results of their research, he was publishing his results in conferences and in scientific journals. His contemporaries at the time believed that for scientific promotions all that was needed was getting academic degrees and having a longevity as scientist in the research institute. When the Research was nationalized and four grades were established through which research scientists were placed, many of his colleagues got frustrated that they had not been treated fairly by the advancement commissions that had been created to evaluate scientific output and promote scientists to the various grades, and so left the country for greener pastures in regional organizations, where they thought they could at least have financial satisfaction.

Dr Lyonga also had the belief to go to the top as an academic. At the time he was already popular and well known as one of the few dedicated agriculturists in the country, he decided to register for and complete a PhD (a terminal degree) in the University of Ibadan. He had never been satisfied that some of his colleagues in the Research had terminal degrees but he did not. He went through the hurdles of making a family and at the same time submitting himself in front of professors who were even in his own age group, to supervise him in his research. He finally completed his PhD. We who were under his care received the message when that great event happened and we received the famous telegram: Awarded PhD. It was great satisfaction not only to him and his family but a major inspiration to us as well.

Now with a fellowship to study plant genetics in the University of Georgia, I made the determined decision to finish my academic work at recorded time; to be more specific I gave myself the challenge to obtain the PhD before age 30. I made sure I jotted down the path I was going to follow through BSc, MSc and PhD in a road map which I kept inside a textbook I cherished very much, Organic Chemistry by Morrison and Boyd. I was guided by that roadmap and I had my PhD at age 29.

I had another mentor, Dr Anthony Mepri Maimo, who was then Deputy Director of the Institute of Agricultural and Forestry Research (IRAF), one of the research institutes of the National Office for Scientific and Technical Research, the organization newly created to oversee scientific research in the country. Mr Maimo had two strong beliefs: the first to enhance the education of youths by assisting them in growing in their academic pursuits in IRAF. He also had the belief to reach the top of the academic ladder although he had just a few years to go on retirement. So as Deputy Director of IRAF he decided to ask for a study leave to get a PhD in the University of Ibadan. It was amazing to see an elderly person in such a high position take time off his big job in government where he commanded a lot of authority and respect and decide to go back to school. He had to forgo family life; he had to forget about the comfort of his children and how he would miss playing the role of mentoring them during his absence. But he persevered in his small room in a student hostel in Ibadan to study and obtain a PhD. On his return from study leave, he barely did two years of service and was retired. Although many blamed him for spending those four years to get a terminal degree, he was satisfied that he was able to make it as he had determined to do. That is life; one of beliefs.

Countries hold beliefs and when these beliefs start hunting them, they lead to conflicts. These conflicts may last throughout their lives. We may ask ourselves the questions: What is a belief? What is a conflict? As a young boy in the university, I had been told that a belief is an acceptance that a statement is true or that something exists: It may also be something one accepts as true or real. A belief is actually a mental attitude that some proposition is true. For every given proposition, every person either has or lacks the mental attitude that it is true and there is generally no middle ground between the presence or absence of a belief. A belief may also be a firmly held opinion or conviction. When a country or an individual holds a belief, that country or that individual would be prepared to fight for that belief. For instance, an individual may believe in the value of hard work and do everything to maintain it. If anyone goes against that belief, there is a conflict. In the USA the public or even the private sector believes in people working eight hours a day. Any employee coming in late to work or extending his or her breaktime for longer than one hour is considered an enemy to the workplace because that reduces the output of the individual. The conflict may lead to that individual being fired from his job. A belief may also be a religious conviction. Religious individuals have the assertion that they are directed by God or their religions, to either take specific actions in honor of their conviction.

A belief system is a set of values, tenets, thoughts, ideas that a person or group of people believe in. It may be characterized by certain properties like personal commitment which is perhaps the most observable and interesting feature of an ideology. A belief system could not have strong social consequences if it was not because of personal commitment. A belief system has principles that help people inform themselves in the world around them; As individuals, we live, and move based on what beliefs guide us. Our beliefs constitute the base of our lives, and constitute the land on which we live. The system of our authentic beliefs determines all our conduct, including the intellectual life, helps us interpret the world and how we perceive the problems that confront us.

Developed countries had several strong beliefs that Africans were good for nothing, they were not civilized and so needed civilization by none other than Europe, arguing that our traditional cultures were not good enough to make us functional and successful people in the world. They had the strong belief that Africa was endowed with enormous natural resources (oil, gold, diamond, cobalt, uranium, timber, cotton and many others) which it did not need because it had no industries to utilize them. They believed that Africa did not have the sophisticated weapons to fight back in the event of an invasion by them. They did not believe in African supernatural powers and indigenous tools that could outcompete their sophistical military ammunitions in the event of war between them and Africa. Such belief systems lead parties and nations to remain inflexible and unyielding to the opposing side. This leads to conflict and tension.

Beginning in the 16th century, European merchants initiated the transatlantic slave trade, purchasing enslaved Africans from West African Kingdoms and transporting them to European colonies in the Americas. This history of slavery spans many cultures, nationalities and religions from ancient times to the present day. The transatlantic slave trade was eventually curtailed due to European and American governments passing legislation abolishing their nation’s involvement in that hostile atrocity. But although slavery is no longer legal anywhere in the world, it has taken other forms. Human trafficking, widely practiced through intermediaries, remains an international problem. An estimated 25-40 million people were enslaved as of 2013, the majority of these in Asia. Another example is that in the Second Sudanese Civil War which took place from 1983 through 2005 between the Sudanese government and the Sudan Peoples’ Liberation Army, people were taken into slavery. There is also evidence that in the late 1990s systematic child slavery and trafficking happened on cocoa plantations in West Africa. These are indications that the Europeans started a system which makes them believe that slavery, no matter its form, has been designed to last forever. It can be proven that the 21st century slavery continues and generates some $150 billion dollars as profits each year. That is why civil unrest in African countries is encouraged and propagated indirectly because if countries are occupied by armed conflict and civil unrest, those events make their inhabitants vulnerable to all forms of slavery - slavery for forced labor, child soldiers, sex traffickers or sexual slavery. This has become very lucrative also because it has led to the exploitation of the natural and human capital resources of Africa.

Beliefs are our brain’s way of making sense of and navigating our complex world. They are mental representations of the ways our brains expect things in our environment to behave, and how things should be related to each other. Beliefs are the patterns our brain expects the world to conform to. Belief is a powerful and necessary thing, governing our societies, our day-to-day and inner lives, our thoughts, hopes, plans, and relationships. You believe that the plane will leave the runway. You believe that working hard will lead to a promotion. You believe that the candidate you support is the best one for the job. Some things you believe in are because a pattern of experience suggests you should. For example, if you believe that the sun comes up every morning so far, you will likely know that tomorrow will be no different.

But other things you believe, exist even despite logic and evidence to the contrary. You may believe and feel that the next lottery ticket you buy will be the big one, the winning one. Belief is like that; you do those things you believe in. No matter how brilliant or how educated you are, no one is immune to irrational convictions. For example, "Linus Pauling, one of the most respected scientists ever, and who was a two-time Nobel Prize winner, believed that vitamin C