Truth and Belief | The Probabilist . com

Truth and Belief November 5, 2006

Posted by The Probabilist in : [Articles], Consciousness, Personal Growth, Purpose, Beliefs , trackback

Today I’d like to discuss the essence of your beliefs and what you consider to be true in your reality. The focus will be on what is required to take on a new belief system that you know exists, but you haven’t quite understood or found evidence to even begin trying to understand. This question is linked to issues that mostly can’t be explained using our five senses, issues like religion, whether we have a soul, what happens when we die and if there’s a preprogrammed, self-made or no purpose with our lives.

Most people live with the conception that there first has to be (a) proof and then they will believe. In the case of eg. religion they either trust their intellect to choose a belief system that is most congruent with what they are experiencing in reality or they believe whatever they were raised up to believe without questioning why. These people also identify themselves as a Christian or as a Buddhist or as an Atheist as if the belief system is a part of their being and who they are.

The other way of discovering truth or accepting a belief is to first believe something new and then observe what kind of proof it brings forth into your reality. This concept notes that you can never judge or measure a belief system from the outside looking in. It can only be done by leaving your existing belief box and venturing into an unknown one and let its contents unfold to you in a first hand perspective.

To give a simple distinction between these two models consider the following analogy. You want to lose weight and stumble upon a weight loss program. Given the first model you would first acquire information and proof that somebody has succeeded in losing the objective amount of weight by using this particular program. Thereafter you hold the belief that you can accomplish similar results as well. The other model suggests that whatever results others have accomplished is irrelevant. You would first have to boldly follow the program as described and only after this will measuring the results and credibility of the program present its truthfulness.

There are many point of views that can criticize this analogy. Firstly, what works for one may not work for another. Secondly, one may think they have done everything according to the plan when in fact this may be objectively proven false. Thirdly, the primary reason why one is pursuing a change or something new differs from person to person both in strength and source, which can also lead to varying outcomes.

One should also understand the difference between faith and rationality. These are both models of belief where faith needs no proof and rationality is based on proof. However, they both exist without a conscious choice that give rise to the belief itself. Using the first model, faith and rationality are both the product of reality and not vice versa, and whatever it is or would be called sounds to me like a limiting and sub-optimal perspective.

The second model on the other hand, first trying a belief and then evaluating the proof it generates seems like a less narrow-minded approach. The best part about it is that you can always go back, always return to your comfort zone where things make sense again if this is the case. I want things to make sense and I want to be the best I can be. I know there are lots of boxes out there, but I can’t know what they truly contain until I open them and see for myself. And this is done with my mind, not with my eyes.

Every time I try something new it will be posted on this website, at the pace it progresses and always using this method. As you know, I’ve already been writing about my experiences on lucid dreaming. In just a week of practice I’ve become lucid twice and I am thrilled to have seen such fast results. I think it’s simply because I first delve into the belief that I can do something and then wait for the proof to present itself. My last lucid dream was two nights ago and lasted about 15 seconds with three different scenarios. The feeling that hit me in my chest once I turned lucid was a kind of exhilaration beyond my ability to describe.

As for religion, if you’ve read my about page you’ve noticed that I state I’m currently an open agnostic. The word currently is what I want to emphasize on that sentence since it is also in line with the belief model I’ve written about in this article. As a final word, if you’ve come to the conclusion that this model indeed seems to make more sense than the former model, please don’t take my word on it. You have to prove it for yourself.