If the thesis in Unlocking the Emotional Brain (UtEB) is even half-right, it may be one of the most important books that I have read. Written by the psychotherapists Bruce Ecker, Robin Ticic and Laurel Hulley, it claims to offer a neuroscience-grounded, comprehensive model of how effective therapy works. In so doing, it also happens to formulate its theory in terms of belief updating, helping explain how the brain models the world and what kinds of techniques allow us to actually change our minds. Furthermore, if UtEB is correct, it also explains why rationalist techniques such as Internal Double Crux [1 2 3] work.
UtEB’s premise is that much if not most of our behavior is driven by emotional learning. Intense emotions generate unconscious predictive models of how...
IME the process outlined in this book is absolutely right. However, one piece of the framework seems weird to me: it seems to suggests that emotions are the cause of schemas/beliefs:
This doesn't match my intuitions… imo, more like this: beliefs are the cause of emotions. Where do 'intense emotions' come from?
Maybe emotions are best thought as doing 'prioritization' or serving other essential function, but I don't think they're the bottom.