I honestly believe belief has to do with:
Synchronicity (of personal experiences and observation of seemingly related event patterns that we attribute to a source X.)
Placebo (Since I had this experience X, that must have helped me, I feel better now)
Repetition (this worked above, so I should do it again)
Self-reflection (Now that I feel better because of X, I can reflect to see how I can use this to make my life better)
Self-fulfilling Prophecy (Since X has happened a lot and I feel better because of it, when something happens, I know it's related (and attributed) to X and nothing else)
This goes back into a circle and engraved by the argumentation theory-if the majority believes X and the relationship with all the above, it must be true (and mistaking theory or belief for fact and evidence). Since the majority believes it, especially in a community, there are laws, religious and cultural norms, practices, and languages that are centered around this cycle. This makes each of these above stronger.
People become indoctrinated (positive or negative) with the cycle. It's all psychological; hence, a positive placebo.
-
All based on a placebo effect. I wrote about belief and placebo one time on RF and somewhere else. Not many replied to it. They got offended because they thought I said their belief was fake.
