Re: Belief: What Is It, and From Where Does It Come?
i know this is an old post but what the hell.
simply, isn't belief just the extension of the way a child must innately trust it's caregiver in order to survive?
adult beliefs are when the person has not outgrown that trait, not broken through their superego, which comes in during those young formative years.
that is my summation. they have not outgrown the need to be parented, going from mum to god etc.
it is possible to be totally without belief when you deconstruct all that you are taught in those early years. things like hope still find their way into your psyche from time to time, but free from belief, rationality becomes the most dominant force in your life.
Re: Belief: What Is It, and From Where Does It Come?
Interesting thoughts trouble. It would seem that belief is tossed around and used in different connotations. For example, people often say, "you gotta believe in yourself to achieve anything." I would say that "envisioning" an outcome and "believing in something" are often misconstrued. For example, envisioning a desired outcome has been shown to be a successful technique in helping many athletes achieve goals. So has hard work and practice but it is often the ability to push the limits of what we "believed" were our limitations. So there is a certain kind of belief that I would say is valuable, however the "Constructed belief systems" we're taught as children can become hindrances as we grow older. One of my favorite quotes from the Principia Discordia is "I firmly believe that nothing should be firmly believed."