Seite - 102 - in Limina - Grazer theologische Perspektiven, Band 3:2

102 | www.limina-graz.eu Sara Lumbreras and Lluis Oviedo | Belief networks as complex systems tuitive understanding of how belief systems encode how to derive the impact on the final goals from the intermediate ones. An example of this could be the belonging to a group for many animal species. The group can be critical for survival, so much that this intermediate goal can be ingrained genetically as deeply as the fight for physical integrity. However, the fact that some behaviours are not accepted by the group must, in most cases, be learnt by experience. The individual will learn not to contravene social norms and what those social norms are in her particular context. She will acquire beliefs of what is acceptable and what is not. Let us imagine a hu- man group, where the individual learnt that money (i. e. financial status) is important for belonging to that group. This could cascade to a job being a lower-level goal and respecting the commands she receives as an even lower one. It should be noted that these processes could be replicated at other levels in a multilevel selection framework. For instance, there is not only selection and learning operating at the level of the individual, but also at the level of kin, group or culture. However, human beings can indeed contravene social norms, or take deci- sions that endanger their survival, if they consider that it is the right thing to do. Humans do not only take a defined objective function and learn how to act according to it; they create and morph their objective function in one of the most remarkable acts of creativity. Indeed, values are also defined by means of belief networks. Most of the interesting features of the renewed brain-computer metaphor can be retained if we study beliefs as a complex system. This perspective can also bring other interesting phenomena to our attention. 5 Beliefs as complex systems Beliefs cannot be understood individually but only as networks, as has been adequately stated in recent literature. However, a complex-systems ap- proach provides a more comprehensive perspective. A complex system is an entity composed of many parts that interact with each other, and whose behaviour is difficult to predict although the con- Human beings create and morph their objective function in an act of creativity.