The Origin of Beliefs

I've discussed briefly what beliefs are, but for now, if you'll allow me, I'd like to set the subject of religious faith aside. There are certain aspects of religious faith that will just muddy the waters at this time. This discussion will be easier to understand if we limit the kinds of beliefs I'm talking about to ones like "I'm not good enough" and "I don't deserve it." Most people have some variation of these and wouldn't mind getting rid of them.

Where do these beliefs come from? Well, one explanation is that they are a survival mechanism. Say once upon a time, you were walking through the jungle and you were attacked by a tiger and escaped. You'd like to avoid that kind of close call again, so your brain records everything about the event, the sights, sounds, smells, anything that might help you to recognize a tiger attack. Then, in the future, whenever you are in those circumstances again, your body will automatically turn on the adrenalin making you more nervous and alert, so that you will watch out for that tiger. Even if you weren't paying any conscious attention.

I'm not sure I buy that explanation completely. Sure, it makes sense, in a evolutionary sort of way, but my experience suggests to me that that isn't the main source of the kind of beliefs I'm talking about. I'm not saying that stressed-induced "beliefs" don't exist. Vets with PTSD and my own experience with a milder form of PTSD from a dysfunctional family make it obvious that they do. What I am saying is that the trauma/stress-induced PTSD beliefs, even mild ones, look significantly different from a therapists point of view. And I'm beginning to think that the reason that some people develop PTSD and others do not, despite going through exactly the same circumstances, is because the afflicted had a pre-disposition, in the form of some pre-existing belief that the trauma was able to attache to and thus persist. But, where do these originating beliefs come from? I have no idea. But that doesn't stop you from removing them.