Our politics are more heated than ever before, and fed by our belief that we’re right while others are wrong. William James shows us that our beliefs aren’t a rational appraisal of the facts, but influenced by our emotional temperament. We shouldn’t rely on ideology to decide what is true, but look at what works in practice instead.

There are times and places when multiple beliefs and ideologies compete for our attention. We’re in one of them today – scroll the internet, and much of the noisiest and most engaging content is political. Elon Musk’s recent interview with Trump gained 95 million views, while political movements across the world, from left to right and from uprisings in Bangladesh and Kenya to riots and counter-protests in the UK, find new adherents online.

The late-nineteenth-century United States was its own melting pot, with an influx of immigrants seeking economic opportunities, religious freedom, and political refuge. Waves of new Americans brought diverse languages, ways of life and religions to cities and small towns across the county. As a result of this, new Americans adopted new religions. The religions they had left behind in their countries of origin weren’t just making metaphysical claims – they were social and political institutions that governed states and regions. In their place, new and diverse beliefs flourished, allowing more personalised versions of the religious experience.