If humans could understand the word Belief could we establish a path toward peace

RickeyHoltsclaw

@773322 ; It is contingent upon what you "believe" is truth and relevant.

773322

what i am trying to understand is if we can see belief as a belief and not reality could we make change happen, it seems like we are wired to believe in belief maybe because its a convenient way to live, like this is my land and if you come here i am going to defend it and so be backed by the government . b@RickeyHoltsclaw

MayCaesar

I suppose I am an extreme skeptic by nature. Whenever someone tells me that something is true, my very first reaction is to think, "Hmm, in what way can this be wrong?" And almost always I find some way in which it is wrong. I have learned to not be too annoying with this - I used to be very brash and just criticized everything anyone would say - but my mind still performs this work.

If you think like this, then what you write is extremely obvious and intuitive. Of course we can only have beliefs: we can never be 100% sure that our description of reality is accurate. Even more so when it comes to fuzzy concepts such as "ownership" or "duty" that do not exist as physical entities and, rather, describe human-made relationships. I am even starting to suspect that there is no truth statement in principle that cannot be criticized, at least, in some way. Even if I say that 2+2=4, someone can say, "Well, this is true in the axiomatic system you are working. What if I do not accept that system and propose an alternative one?"

The way to handle this is to just embrace chaos. It is okay to often (or even always) be wrong. It is okay to never know anything for sure. It is okay to be confused, puzzled, ignorant, lost. These are great states to be in as that is what prompts you to grow and become stronger, wiser and more flexible and cunning.

Almost everything that the society at large wants you to believe is, ultimately, just the means to an end: societal survival. You always can (and should) disagree with any popular opinion, tradition or cultural norm. Live your life, try things out, experiment, make deductions and test hypotheses. Listen to other people, of course, for they can often show you a shortcut to what otherwise would have taken you orders of magnitude more time and energy to arrive at - but do not become reliant on shortcuts provided by others, for the cheese rarely comes without a spring.

Joeseph

@773322

what i am trying to understand is if we can see belief as a belief and not reality could we make change happen, it seems like we are wired to believe in belief 

Well I like to believe what I think and believe  aligns  with  reality ,does anyone believe they think otherwise?  What's reality anyway?

773322

Argument Topic: if humans could unerstand belief

Thanks for your insight, i find it helpful.

@MayCaesar