Difference between revisions of "Belief"
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(there's probably more to say about this, but I don't yet know what.) |
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#* "I believe that it will rain today, so we should probably bring umbrellas." | #* "I believe that it will rain today, so we should probably bring umbrellas." | ||
#* "I believe that I can sit on this chair." | #* "I believe that I can sit on this chair." | ||
| − | # '''the result of a decision to admit a piece of information as true <u>regardless of</u> observable reality''' (i.e. [[doctrine]]) | + | # '''the result of a decision to admit a piece of information as true <u>regardless of</u> observable reality''' (i.e. [[faith]] in an item of [[doctrine]] or [[dogma]]) |
#* "I believe that Jesus was born of a virgin, despite the fact that this is biologically impossible." | #* "I believe that Jesus was born of a virgin, despite the fact that this is biologically impossible." | ||
#* "I believe that God will save us if we pray hard enough." | #* "I believe that God will save us if we pray hard enough." | ||
| Line 16: | Line 16: | ||
# that which is agreed upon by all [in a given group] | # that which is agreed upon by all [in a given group] | ||
#* While this definition can lead to the "corresponds to" definition of belief if one is surrounded by people who agree that this is the proper definition, by the same token it can also lead to the "regardless of" definition. | #* While this definition can lead to the "corresponds to" definition of belief if one is surrounded by people who agree that this is the proper definition, by the same token it can also lead to the "regardless of" definition. | ||
| + | ==Links== | ||
| + | ===Reference=== | ||
| + | * {{wikipedia}} | ||
| + | * {{!in|rationalwiki}} no information as of 2009-07-30 | ||
| + | * {{lwwiki}} | ||
| + | * {{!in|conservapedia}} redirects to [[faith]] as of 2009-07-30: apparently cp does not acknowledge the idea of believing things because they can be observed | ||
| + | * {{!in|dkosopedia}} | ||
| + | * {{!in|sourcewatch}} | ||
Revision as of 13:20, 30 July 2009
Overview
Belief, or the act of believing, can mean any of several slightly different things. The overall definition could be phrased as:
- the knowledge or understanding of a piece of information as truth
This comes in two somewhat different varieties, however:
- an acceptance that a piece of information corresponds to observable reality (to a sufficient degree that acting upon it is reasonable)
- "I believe that it will rain today, so we should probably bring umbrellas."
- "I believe that I can sit on this chair."
- the result of a decision to admit a piece of information as true regardless of observable reality (i.e. faith in an item of doctrine or dogma)
- "I believe that Jesus was born of a virgin, despite the fact that this is biologically impossible."
- "I believe that God will save us if we pray hard enough."
The reason for these two rather different usages may be due to subtly different usages of the word truth:
- that which accurately reflects reality
- This definition leads naturally to the "corresponds to observable reality" definition of belief.
- that which is agreed upon by all [in a given group]
- While this definition can lead to the "corresponds to" definition of belief if one is surrounded by people who agree that this is the proper definition, by the same token it can also lead to the "regardless of" definition.
Links
Reference
- Wikipedia
RationalWikino information as of 2009-07-30- LessWrong Wiki
Conservapediaredirects to faith as of 2009-07-30: apparently cp does not acknowledge the idea of believing things because they can be observed
dKosopediaSourceWatch
