Such data-informed insights may offer solutions to the problem of widespread fundamentalism that is fueling many Islamic terror groups in the Middle East and western nations alike.

At present, in most homes around the world, regardless of the religion, mystical explanations for natural events are taught to children by parents from the time they are old enough to communicate. Even in progressive nations like the U.S. and England, courses on subjects like evolution and physics—that give well-established physical explanations for questions about our origins and how the world works—are not mandatory for all students in high school or even college. Given that ideas are easily accepted as true in early stages of life, great progress could be made if public schools provided children and young adults with a basic science education from the beginning of their academic career. Combatting the brain’s habit of taking the path of least resistance calls for change in legislation that places science subjects at the forefront of schools’ core curriculums.

Secondly, extremist ideals can be more effectively fought in the brain not only by introducing science topics earlier, but also by making those topics more interesting and accessible at all academic levels. Early science lessons should present complex ideas in ways that make them as easily digestible as religious teachings—and just as easy on the brain. To many scientists, “dumbing down science” is seen as blasphemous, but given that the battle between scientific and religious explanation is often a winner-takes-all scenario, a negligible loss of accuracy in certain Gen Ed science courses is well worth the gains. Public science advocates like Neil deGrasse Tyson and Bill Nye, along with many science awareness social media sites, have been very successful in this effort.