Simplifying Heuristics versus Careful Thinking: Scientific Analysis of Millennial Spiritual Issues

─ There is ample evidence that humans (and other primates) possess a knowledge instinct: a biologically driven impulse to make coherent sense of the world at the highest level possible. Yet behavioral decision making data suggest a contrary biological drive to minimize cognitive effort by solving problems using simplifying heuristics. Individuals differ, and the same person varies over time, in the strength of the knowledge instinct. Neuroimaging studies suggest which brain regions might mediate the balance between knowledge expansion and heuristic simplification. One region implicated in primary emotional experience is more activated in individuals who use primitive heuristics, whereas two areas of the cortex are more activated in individuals with a strong knowledge drive: one region implicated in detecting risk or conflict, and another region implicated in generating creative ideas. Knowledge maximization and effort minimization are both evolutionary adaptations, and both valuable in different contexts. Effort minimization helps us make minor and routine decisions efficiently, whereas knowledge maximization connects us to the beautiful, to the sublime, and to our highest aspirations. We relate the opposition between the knowledge instinct and heuristics to the Biblical story of the fall, and argue that the causal scientific worldview is mathematically equivalent to teleological arguments from final causes. Elements of a scientific program are formulated to address unresolved issues. 1. IS THERE A DRIVE TO KNOW? Perlovsky (2001, 2006a) has proposed that humans possess a knowledge instinct (KI); that is, a drive to create realistic internal models of the world. This involves developing mental representations that are as consistent as possible across different hierarchical levels of the brain. The idea of a KI is controversial because it seems quite different from standard biological instincts such as eating, sex, and aggression that we share with other animals. Also, the KI runs counter to the long-established biological principle of effort minimization. The tradeoff between the KI and effort minimization is considered in the ensuing sections of this article. Yet clearly the KI has the survival value of leading us to generate as accurate an internal representation of the world as possible. At the same time, the knowledge instinct is closely involved with important aspects of the quality and meaningfulness of life beyond mere survival, such as play, curiosity, and beauty. What is the scientific evidence for the existence of a KI? The brain systems involved in such an instinct have been but dimly suggested. Yet there is a wide range of results both in experimental psychology and neuroscience that support the overall notion. In psychology, there are many demonstrations that both humans and monkeys possess an exploratory drive, a curiosity about their environments regardless of the