Judgement day and the science of belief

Judgement day and the science of belief

This episode dives deep into the challenges and triumphs of how human beings come to believe things with absolute certainty. Centred on the failed prediction that Judgement Day would arrive on 21 May 2011, the story follows Harold Camping and his followers, who were sure earthquakes would devastate the planet and God would take the chosen few to heaven. As one believer says, "After you see all the evidence for it, it's like a neatly tight web...

I knew it was right." Host Lynne Malcolm speaks with neuroscientist and documentary co-producer Chris De Maier about the film *Right Between Your Ears* and what it reveals about the science of belief. You’ll hear how "perfectly ordinary" people — a philosophy student, a retail manager, scientists, and Camping’s own daughter — gradually moved from mild curiosity to absolute conviction that the date was set.

Chris explains the "pyramid" analogy from social psychology: at first you’re at the tip, uncertain; once you take a small step towards believing or rejecting an idea, you start justifying that choice, sliding further down one side of the pyramid until turning back becomes incredibly hard. That process, he suggests, doesn’t just shape doomsday beliefs but also feeds polarised debates around Brexit, Donald Trump, climate change and immigration.

You’ll also hear about brain-scanning research showing that the neural difference between believing and disbelieving is similar across people, whether they’re atheists or Christians, and whether the belief is mathematical, ethical or religious.

As Chris puts it, "Once we are very convinced of something, it appears that our brains flag that up in the same way." The episode finishes by looking at cognitive dissonance — that sinking feeling when reality collides with a cherished belief — and how social media can rapidly amplify convincing but false stories.

It’s a frank, sometimes unsettling reminder that "it's amazing what the human brain can believe" and a gentle prompt to ask: how sure are you about the things you’re certain of?