Holding Beliefs Without Losing Yourself

There is a difference between believing in something and becoming it.

In my most recent podcast episode (you can listen to it above), I explored something uncomfortable but necessary: what happens when we attach our identity to political figures, movements, or rigid ideals. Not when we support them. Not when we vote for them. But when disagreement with them feels like a personal attack on us.

This is not about left versus right. It is not about one party being worse than the other. It is about psychology. It is about ego. It is about what happens when beliefs stop being flexible and start becoming fused with who we think we are.

Because once that happens, we stop thinking critically. We start defending reflexively.

And that shift is dangerous.

When Beliefs Become Identity

Beliefs are meant to evolve. Identity feels permanent.

When someone criticizes a political leader you support and your body reacts before your mind does, that is not a policy discussion. That is identity protection.

You might feel heat rise in your chest. You might feel the urge to argue immediately. You might think, “They are attacking my values.” But often, what is happening is much deeper.

If a belief becomes intertwined with your self-worth, then questioning that belief feels like questioning your intelligence, your morality, even your belonging.

This is how politics becomes personal in the most unhealthy way.

We stop evaluating ideas based on evidence and start protecting them based on loyalty.

The Psychology Behind Identity Attachment

Human beings crave belonging. We want community, certainty, safety.

Political movements offer all three.

They give us language to describe the world. They give us heroes and villains. They give us a sense that we are on the “right side.” For many people, especially those who have felt marginalized or powerless, that sense of belonging feels stabilizing.

But here is the issue.

When we attach our identity to political figures or rigid ideologies, we outsource our moral compass. We begin to defend the person instead of the principle. We excuse harm because it benefits “our side.” We overlook contradictions because acknowledging them would threaten our self-image.

When ideas become sacred, they stop being ethical.

Ethics require examination. Sacred attachments resist it.

The Ego Bruise We Avoid

One of the hardest experiences for the human ego is being wrong.

For some people, especially those raised in environments where mistakes were punished harshly, being wrong does not feel like growth. It feels like danger. It feels like loss of safety.

So instead of reconsidering a belief, we double down on it.

We gather information that confirms our stance. We avoid conversations that challenge it. We label critics as enemies instead of engaging with their arguments.

If your values only apply when they are convenient, they are not values. They are branding.

That line might sting. It is meant to.

Cultural and Generational Layers

For marginalized communities, this topic becomes even more layered.

When your history includes oppression, displacement, or systemic harm, political promises can feel like protection. Attaching to a political identity can feel like survival. Changing your mind can feel like betrayal of your community.

That emotional weight is real.

But protection that requires blind loyalty is fragile. Real empowerment comes from discernment, not devotion.

We are allowed to question leaders without abandoning our communities. We are allowed to criticize policies without abandoning our values.

Attaching identity to a politician does not strengthen your culture. It limits your ability to think critically within it.

Warning Signs You’ve Crossed the Line

Here are a few signs that identity attachment may be overriding critical thought:

• You cannot criticize “your side” without feeling guilt or anxiety.
• You excuse behavior from your preferred leaders that you would condemn in others.
• You consume only media that reinforces your stance.
• Disagreement feels like a moral attack rather than a difference in perspective.

If criticism feels like an attack, something deeper is happening.

Public figures are not extensions of you. They do not know you. They are not your identity. They are people in positions of influence who should be evaluated, not worshiped.

Identity Should Not Be a Cage

There is nothing wrong with having strong beliefs. Conviction matters. Values matter.

But identity should be rooted in principles that can withstand questioning.

If your identity depends on never being wrong, it will become rigid. If it depends on defending a specific person at all costs, it will eventually betray you.

Growth requires the courage to survive the ego bruise.

You are allowed to evolve. You are allowed to reconsider. You are allowed to say, “I thought this was true, but I need to reexamine it.”

That is not weakness. That is integrity.

Choosing Integrity Over Loyalty

The most dangerous form of identity attachment is the one that confuses loyalty with morality.

Integrity means applying your values consistently, even when it is uncomfortable. Loyalty to a figure or ideology often asks you to look away.

If you cannot question it, it owns you.

That does not mean you abandon your beliefs. It means you hold them loosely enough to examine them honestly.

Beliefs should guide you. They should not imprison you.

What’s Next?

In the next episode, I explore the positive side of identity and how attaching your identity to values and habits can actually transform your life in healthy ways. Because identity itself is not the enemy. Misplaced attachment is.

For now, sit with this question:

Who are you without the label?

And if that question feels unsettling, that is not a sign you are broken. It is a sign you are thinking.

Is #AI Making Us Stupider? This Study Certainly Thinks So

New research highlights the impact of AI on #CriticalThinking skills.

Posted August 21, 2025 | Reviewed by Michelle Quirk

Key points
- Using AI to do the thinking impacts not only quality of work but also the long-term acquisition of skills.
- AI can have a place in education, but it needs to be carefully employed.
- Employing AI is having a detrimental impact on our ability to think critically.

Excerpt: "A new study by #MIT has published initial results highlighting a likely connection between large language models (#LLMs)—colloquially grouped under the banner of AI—and a direct cognitive cost, particularly when it comes to our ability to think critically. They conducted a study using a pool of 54 participants, divided into three groups. The groups were asked to deliver an SAT-grade essay, with the first group granted access to #ChatGPT, the second to traditional #GoogleSearch, and the third with no search resources at all. Group 3 was referred to as the '#BrainOnly' group.

"Over time, each participant had to produce several essays, and each time was attached to an EEG to record brain activity across 32 regions. Consistently, ChatGPT users had the lowest brain engagement for every essay, and worryingly showed decreasing brain activity over time, as they progressed through the essay assignments. What this represents is the ChatGPT participants getting '#lazier' with each subsequent essay, with many resorting to copy-and-paste content by the end of the study. The study also recorded that this group 'consistently underperformed at #neural, #linguistic, and behavioral levels.' The findings make sense; with ChatGPT doing much of the work, it's easier on our #cognitive processes, and it is unsurprising that it takes less mental effort.

"Perhaps the more concerning aspect of the findings is the connection between #ReducedBrainActivity and impact on long-term learning and memory. As well as recording the participants' level of satisfaction, #curiosity, #creativity and #memory as part of the study—which were all high for both the brain-only and the search assisted groups (groups 2 and 3)—a later part of the study asked each group to reproduce one of their earlier essays, with the ChatGPT group asked to do so without access to any tools. There was little evidence of this group's participants remembering much of their previous essay, highlighting the very necessary link between #CognitiveEngagement and memory and, therefore, the potential impact on #LongTermLearning and gaining new skills. Conversely, and perhaps reassuringly, however, the brain-only group was then permitted to rewrite their essay with access to ChatGPT, with their efforts showing higher levels of creativity and stronger arguments, while retaining original thinking and unique language. This could present reassurance that, employed properly, AI has a place in enhancing learning without diminishing cognitive capability.

"Despite awaiting peer review and using only a small participant sample, the research team decided to release their findings in advance of peer feedback, in what they highlight as an urgent consideration of #LearningWithAI."

Read more:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-art-of-critical-thinking/202507/is-ai-making-us-stupider-this-study-certainly-thinks-so

#DumbingUsDown #AIIsDumbingUsDown #AISucks #UseYourBrain #CriticalThinkingSkills #EvaluatingSources #UseAIWithCaution

Federal funding cuts could impact South #Mississippi #library services

Aug. 7, 2025

GULFPORT, Miss. (WLOX) - "The Harrison County Library System is asking for support to prevent further federal budget cuts.

"If a new round of federal funding cuts is approved, it would impact the Institute of Museum and Library Services, which is a federal agency and a major source of funding for local libraries.

"South Mississippi library officials said that cuts at the federal level could result in a loss of various services.

" 'We don’t want this to happen,' said Sarah Crisler-Ruskey, Director of the Harrison County Library System. “This will impact our ability to serve our patrons.'

"The federal funding helps provide #DigitalMaterials, #InterLibraryLoans to share books from other Mississippi #libraries, and grants for technology and programs.

" 'Libraries also help patrons access the #TalkingBook service. So if they are visually impaired or have a physical reason they can not hold a book, this is a free service that is funded by the same money,' said Crisler-Ruskey.

"The Harrison County Library System is asking people to contact their Mississippi congressmen and senators and let them know that the library is important to them."

https://www.wlox.com/2025/08/07/federal-funding-cuts-could-impact-south-mississippi-library-services/

#LibrariesRule #USPol #FundingCuts #LibrariesAreEssential #LibraryCuts
#LibraryServices #LoveOfReading
#BuildingCommunity #Literacy #SupportingResearch
#CriticalThinkingSkills

Shhhhh... 🤫 #UK - #Librarians told not to express views on cuts

by John Wimperis, 8/8/2025

"Librarians have been asked not to express their views on cuts to the service while at work or within a #library.

"All libraries run by #NorthSomerset Council are under threat of reduced hours and three have been earmarked for closure.

"The move comes after the council announced it was axing its annual spending on libraries by £433k.

"When asked why librarians were being told not to talk to journalists about the cuts, North Somerset Council said librarians were just following the standard practice."

Read more:
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cev200y3j3zo

#LibrariesRule #LibrariesAreEssential #LibraryCuts #LibraryServices #UKPol #ScotlandPol #LoveOfReading #BuildingCommunity #Literacy #SupportingResearch #CriticalThinkingSkills

#Scotland - #Librarian cuts at #Glasgow schools will 'rob kids of opportunities' as #SNP Government urged to intervene

EXCLUSIVE: #Labour warned library cuts on Scotland's largest local authority risked worsening the country's 'shameful attainment gap'.

Chris McCall Deputy Political Editor, 02 Aug 2025

Excerpt: "Glasgow Life, which manages the library service for the council, is proposing to take 16 librarians out of the city's education system. The plans would see the school service headed up by a principal librarian along with three area-based librarians, while an 'assistant' would be placed in high schools.

"An online petition against the cuts and shared among parents has since been signed more than 1,300 times.

"Joy McLean said she was concerned about how a decline in #LibraryServices would impact her daughter and other pupils. '#Librarians are essential #educators who foster a love of #reading, support research and #DigitalLiteracy, and help students thrive #academically and personally,' she added."

Read more:
https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/politics/librarian-cuts-glasgow-schools-rob-35659625

#LibrariesRule! #EducationCuts #ScotlandPol #LoveOfReading #BuildingCommunity #Literacy #SupportingResearch #CriticalThinkingSkills