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June 14, 2026: Beyond Belief
June 14, 2026: Beyond Belief
Bring-Your-Own-Brunch 12:15-1, Open Space Discussion 1-2:30 @ TVUUC
Free child care services provided
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June's ForUUm will be another joint book club discussion with the Rationalists of East Tennessee. We'll be talking about Nir Eyal's Beyond Belief: The Science-Backed Way to Stop Limiting Yourself and Achieve Breakthrough Results.
This book draws from the latest research in neuroscience and psychology to demonstrate the impact that our beliefs have on how we experience life, our resilience, and our ability to achieve our goals. The concept is similar to many "woo-woo" self-help books that promote aphorisms like "if you can believe it, you can achieve it," but this book does a much better job of citing evidence for each of its claims.
Our conversation will include topics like the difference between facts and beliefs, the placebo effect, the efficacy of secular prayer, overcoming adversity, and how our underlying assumptions about reality shape our lived experience.
The audiobook version can be completed in just a few hours (buy it on Libro.fm to support local bookstores instead of billionaires!), but if you don't have the time then the podcast interviews on this page will fill you in on the main points.
This will be a hybrid event, so you can join by zoom if you can't make it in person.
Videos and materials are shared for the purpose of inviting participants into open discussion, and are not endorsed by or representative of TVUUC.
Interviews and Podcasts
Interviews and Podcasts
Here is a selection of interviews and podcasts featuring Nir Eyal discussing the ideas covered by the book.
Here are a few dozen others if your favorite podcast isn't included here!
Pill That Works Even When You Know It's Fake
Pill That Works Even When You Know It's Fake
Why do placebo effects work, even when patients know that they're taking a sugar pill?
How do "nocebo" effects work, and why do some people hold onto beliefs that they suspect might bring them pain and suffering?
What do the major world religions have to teach secular athletes and workers about the power of belief, and what does the psychological research tell us about the benefits of prayer, even for those who don't believe in God?
Nir Eyal, bestselling author of the new book Beyond Belief, joins the show to talk about the research behind how our beliefs shape our lives.
How Manifesting Actually Works
How Manifesting Actually Works
The number one reason people fail to reach their goals isn’t a lack of knowledge or resources — it’s that they quit. Motivation isn’t a straight line from behavior to benefit; it’s a triangle that includes belief. Without belief in both the process and the payoff, perseverance crumbles.
Limiting beliefs are invisible cages we mistake for facts. Phrases like “I don’t have time,” “I’m too old,” or “someone like me can’t do this” feel like objective truths, but they’re actually tools that sap motivation and increase suffering — and most people never stop to examine them.
Venting feels productive but actually reinforces the distorted mental image you’ve built of someone. Instead, Nir uses a “turnaround” technique — asking if the opposite of your grievance could also be true — to collect a portfolio of perspectives and reduce suffering.
Visualizing dream outcomes doesn’t motivate you — it physiologically relaxes you into inaction. Research shows people who “manifest” goals actually achieve less. What works is mental contrasting: rehearsing how you’ll handle the inevitable obstacles and discomfort.
Your beliefs are tools, not truths — and you can swap them out like a carpenter reaching for the right instrument. Start examining one belief that’s been holding you back, test it with honest questions, and try on a more liberating perspective for a week. Growth is possible at any age!
What does it mean to truly hold a belief you endorse? Maybe some of what we believe isn’t true. But more interesting is how beliefs are formed, and how they can be reshaped. So how do you update your beliefs in a way that actually serves you, rather than holds you back?
Expect to learn why beliefs are so important and why they are just tools not truths, what’s wrong with the traditional view of behaviour change and motivation, why smart, disciplined people still quit when their beliefs weaken, how big of a problem limiting beliefs are, how to reframe rejection and failure, why rumination feels productive when it’s actually destructive, how to audit your beliefs and much more…
Discussion Questions
Discussion Questions
Some questions to help get the conversation going!
Was there a time in your life where you changed a belief or underlying assumption about yourself? How did doing this change you?
Have you ever used the "turnaround" technique to change how you feel about someone in your life?
Why does the placebo effect work? How can it work even if you know it is a placebo?
Do you practice mental rehearsal? How do you feel it helps you?
How can prayer work even if you don't believe in supernatural intervention?
Would you undergo surgery using hypnosis and not anesthesia? Do you know someone who has done it?
How can you tell the difference between pseudoscientific manifestation and evidence-based psychology of belief?
What are limiting beliefs versus liberating beliefs? Can you identify a limiting or liberating belief that you have held?
How can a diagnosed psychological condition become a limiting belief? How can we use this knowledge to overcome our limits instead?
Do you think that Nir Eyal draws incorrect or exaggerated conclusions from any of the studies cited in the book?
Which statement is true: "growth is possible at any age" or "aging is an inevitable decline in physical and mental ability" How would these beliefs affect your behavior?
What is the difference between learned helplessness and learned hopefulness?
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