Beliefs or ideas can make us feel good and infatuate us. They can hypnotize us, or put us under a spell of their influence. We can become puppets on strings to their influence, motivating or directing our behavior.
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Often a belief is accepted because it seems to explain things about our lives, ourselves or reality. There are many unknowns, doubts and unanswered questions. Beliefs can serve as an answer. We invent beliefs to try to answer questions. Questions about our reality, about our origins, about the universe’s beginning, about our purpose, etc.
A question without an answer is an unknown which will create a gap in our comprehension or understanding; a gap in our worldview. This gap or hole in comprehension is a void, abyss and darkness of the unknown. This generates confusion, doubt, discomfort, insecurity, anxiety and fear. That fear of the unknown -- of not having a known answer for that question -- is a dark spot in the conceptual web of reality, our worldview and often our self-view as well.
The gap or void is something to fill. We are psychologically motivated to plug up and fill that hole; to invent answers, to invent beliefs and plug them into our worldview. We are often plugging in beliefs in our attempt to understand the world. We frequently take a belief as truth and reality, be it what we invent ourselves or are influenced to accept in our minds. It’s done in an automatic way without thinking it through. Standing in the illusion of solid ground is preferable to most than having a void or holes in our foundation.
The answer provided fills the gap of that void in comprehension, it appears to provides firm footing to fill the abyss of the unknown. Many beliefs provide psychological security this way. Filling in the holes also makes us feel good. We can easily fool ourselves in trying to invent answers to questions that create a gap, void, abyss and darkness in our attempt to understand reality. Instead of bearing with the unknown, we think we have a known truth and reality. Instead of discomfort, insecurity and anxiety, we have comfort, security and tranquility in our conception of reality, our worldview or self-view. That is a valued thing to have. People will believe things if it makes them feel good, especially about themselves. We can all too easily deceives ourselves.
We can even feel grateful towards an idea or belief, or the person who provided us with that belief to make us feel good. Answers don’t have to be real and accurate, they only need to fill the abysmal void of fear, confusion, anxiety, insecurity, doubt and discomfort of the unknown. Just because something feels good, or feels true, doesn’t make it true. Just as love can make us blind, being infatuated with a belief can blind us as well. Feeling our way through information doesn’t help us determine its truthfulness. We should ask if something is true, rather than choosing to believe it to be true because of how it makes us feel.
1,000 books can be written on various beliefs, concept or ideas. Some parts of these books can be true, while others can be imagined concepts which are presented as though they are true. If you read those 1,000 books, many of the topics and beliefs will cross-correlate and correspond. These connections will create a semblance of referential coherence to substantiate the information as though it is real or true. This will create the appearance of truth through many of these sources corroborating aspects of each other.
Even though it can’t be demonstrated as a reality, people will believe various claims because of the answers they provide to existing or new questions. The importance of a question and the need for an answer can have us transform a belief that is possible into a “truth” that is actual, despite not having any way to verify it as true. Consciousness is an imagination factory powered by an abstraction engine. We can invent any fantasy in the mind to provide us with answers to questions we have, but it doesn’t mean the answer is true or real.
1,000 people and 1,000 books; 1 million people and 1 book; they believe more or less the same thing and repeat it into the world by conversation, articles, books, podcasts, etc. A conceptual framework or model is developed and shared. People keep building upon it because they accept the premises. They think it’s a rock solid axiomatic foundation upon which to conceive of something else about ourselves or anything in reality.
People will write about a concept, idea or belief, and also modify the model in either correct ways, or incorrect ways. The model will have many variations over time but it will persist. It has become etched into history. It can persist in being promoted because people want it to persist and influence more minds; because people want it to be true, or because they believe it is true. They will continue to propagate the information as if it’s true. People who read these books or talk to these people will receive word symbols and imagery to convince them that it is true.
But is or was it true? Was it simply believed in because it makes people “feel-good” about the psychological issues (discomfort, insecurity, etc.) that arise when we develop our thought and questioning capacity about reality and ourselves? Was it believed because of a “resonance”, “sounds right” or “feels-right” emotional appeal? Where is the actual truth itself demonstrated, instead of simply believing something?
We need to ask: Did I verify these concepts? Are they true, or simply a belief? If you can’t verify if it is true, then how is it verifiably true and not simply a concept believed to be true? Can it be demonstrated as reality, or is it simply accepted in order to provide us with conceptual and psychological comfort to answer some questions about ourselves or reality?
Beliefs infect us like a mind virus. They spread from person to person, or a form of media to people in our technological age. We want to spread them. We want to believe them because of what they give us: psychological comfort. A belief can give us meaning and value in our lives, so we choose to believe it to be true. We project beliefs as truth without digging into the belief to see its veracity confirmed or not.
Something I have learned to do is not to shy away from the ugly truth of things and this includes recognizing when a belief is a belief and not a fact, no matter how much it holds up my identity.
So to start with it is to know the self enough to acknowledge when something is a belief or has the possibility of being a belief or is a 'best guess'. Not to punish the self for having these things, but to acknowledge the reality of what is there motivated by a desire to increase the individual powers of analysis. To purify the definition objectivity for the self.
Then when these beliefs have been flagged in my mind in my own time go through and address them by doing research on them.
Also not to stand too strong on an opinion I know is based on a belief when having a conversation with another person. There are times when we need to speak only the information we are absolutely sure of (or as sure as we can be) in order to get a point across effectively.
Thanks for your great article!
That's great. We have to always be ready to drop things, learning to let go. Thanks for the feedback, glad you gained value from the content.
I like the comparison with an infection although it sounds harsh it's true. As truthful as an infection can be, speaking of the truth.
The thing is that life is filled with uncertainty and the only certain thing is change. Actually if one would comprehend the amount of gaps humanity really has, they would give in in front of the enormous amount of the unknown. We know too little and much from what we know is the creation our mind, propagated by other minds. This need for answers, security, certainty, is a gold mine for those who want to use information to manipulate people, realities, outcomes. The lie can travel for centuries while the truth can barely tie its shoelaces.
I think it would be wise to have your mind attached to all and to nothing. Remaining curious throughout one's life. Because curious people always wonder, while needy, ignorant or fearful people embrace anything as long as it covers the holes and fulfills the needs. Have a great week!
It's a mix of certain things and change, but more change than not. The gaps are more about the known gaps. We don't know the huge abyss of what we don't know. It's not part of a hole in comprehension. The ones that matter are the ones we know are there ;) Truth is always truth but the lie can propagate for millennia and who knows when the truth will triumph if ever. Truth needs voices to get it out to more consciousnesses ;)
Oh yes. The power of an authentic voice. That is trully something that can move mountains
Krnel Great post
There are good reasons why most of us have a hard time accepting a nudge. Our idea of free will is built on all kinds of psychological metaphors: we want to believe that we control our thoughts, emotions, and actions, even when we know that's not necessarily the case. We also make mistakes by assuming that by exerting self-control, we're rational and honest. In fact, the only thing we can control is ourselves, so even if we think we're making our choices consciously, we're probably not; we are being manipulated to fulfill others' tasks.
Indeed, there is a mix of control and influence. Everything seen and heard influences us in varying degrees. We can increase our conscious self-mastery and decrease the conditioning and influence from external forces.
Religion comes strongly to mind when reading this, even though it isn't implicitly mentioned :P
"Just because something feels good, or feels true, doesn’t make it true."
Perhaps worth noting is that the exact opposite can be said:
Just because something feels bad, or feels untrue, doesn’t make it untrue.
And...
Just because something feels good, or feels true, doesn’t make it true - or untrue.
How something feels has little (or most likely nothing) to do with whether or not it is true. Our feelings are valid and important, but we mustn't read more into them than appropriate.
Yup, there is the feel-good trap, and it's companion of also avoiding the negative, dark, bad, etc. which is done because of the focus on the positive or feel-good.