Comments on: Believe Nothing.

By: What do you see, believe and do?

What do you see, believe and do? — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 12:16:23 +0000

[...] Belief means many things to many people. To some people it means their theological beliefs, most of which are some form of homage to an external deity, to others it means their self belief or ego. There have been challenges on this site before about examining our beliefs. [...]

By: Mick Morris

Mick Morris — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 07:13:03 +0000

Thanks Eric,
I think its healthy to have the discussion about what you believe… but also just as important to keep your mind open and being willing to change your belief based on new and emerging evidence, whilst always attempting to avoid dogma.

Thanks for the comments.

By: Eric

Eric — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 21:16:07 +0000

I see your point here. I have learned that having an open mind and seeing a bigger picture really cuts into what people would say to me. If they said something I have no problem looking at them and going, riiiight. If they really care enough about what they said to keep a conversation going and “prove” their point to me they’d do everything but shut up.

They almost always shut up.

It’s not about being right though. It’s about what one truly believes is to be true. If they truly believed it and still do, great. They obviously weren’t trying to convince me to believe in it because they didn’t do anything about my reaction to what they said.

Good article here. I love reading about this stuff.

Keep at it!

By: Mick Morris

Mick Morris — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 05:12:08 +0000

Thanks Stuart, I’ll have a look at the link.

By: Stuart Broz

Stuart Broz — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 18:44:23 +0000

The problem isn’t belief so much as certainty.

There are many things that I believe in, but I may not believe in them very strongly… and I revise my belief in them regularly. Without some measure of belief, you can’t function.

If you are interested in this, you should read up on coherence theories of epistemology. A good introduction is at: http://bearspace.baylor.edu/Jonathan_Kvanvig/www/pdf/Coherentismcullisonvolume.pdf

By: Mick Morris

Mick Morris — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 04:36:13 +0000

Mepsipax, I like the concept of open mind closed mouth, but given that I’ve just put it out there I guess I’m also failing in the second one.

By: mepsipax

mepsipax — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 21:26:56 +0000

I used to believe in the zombie baby Jesus.
All joking aside, I try to keep an open mind and a closed mouth. That second one is not working out so much and I like it that way.
I used to believe that what other people thought mattered, now I know they are mostly full of shit.