The Strange and Intricate Mystery of "Belief"

When I first came to the US in early 1981, it was quite a change to go from fairly liberal and open minded Denmark to the relatively conservative and religious state of Texas.

Probably no surprise to anyone familiar with both places!

In some ways, it was really my first large scale exposure to the whole idea of "belief" as an important part of people's existence. Sure, we'd lived in southern Spain for a while as well, and it was a substantially Catholic dominated part of the world but this somehow seemed different.

In genereal, though, I had grown up in a family where "belief" really wasn't a thing; regardless of whether it applied to faith, to politics or even to whether there might be other life in the Universe. The people around me simply didn't occupy their thoughts with anything that wasn't tangible and right there.

As I started my life in Texas, the thing I noticed most, perhaps, what's the fact that so many beliefs people seemed to swear by — be they spiritual or otherwise — weren't truly their beliefs; they were simply a set of canned metrics and paradigms that they were parroting, as a result having been handed them from somebody else.

Because I've always been interested in both psychology and the things that make us human beings tick, I have also spent a lot of time contemplating this whole fascinating issue of what we believe to be true.

I find it fascinating how often the whole notion of belief gets interpreted as fact. Always reminds me of what science-fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke famously observed at one time: ”We surmise, but we do not know. That's why we call it a belief.”

Which suggests that we are not talking about absolute facts, here.

These days, it seems like various cognitive "belief traps" exist as much in the political spectrum as they do in the spiritual.

This is where I often find "belief" to be more or less unfathomable!

I hear somebody go off about a particular thing they believe to be politically right, but they immediately become very angry with me when I probe into it with questions like ”while I understand that, WHY do you believe this?” And then follow up with something like ”explain to me from a personal perspective WHY you think this is a good thing?”

It doesn't take a degree in rocket science — or philosophy, for that matter — to understand that there is a big difference between mindlessly parroting canned doctrine, and having an informed and measured opinion about something.

Moreover, most people really resent being questioned along lines that suggest that maybe their opinion consists not of actually feeling or wanting something, but simply on being angry about the opposing point of view. Which, in turn, turns out to be based on just a different piece of canned doctrine with no deeper understanding attached.

I suppose I'm not really revealing anything new or revolutionary here, merely underscoring the fact that has long been known that the last thing in the world politicians — or religious leaders for that matter — really want is a well informed and thinking populace.

Cynical as I may be it sometimes makes me pause and wonder if the era in which we live will go down in history as being known as "The Age of Chosen Ignorance!"

Not a very pleasant (or flattering) thought, if you ask me.

But I suppose it has always been like this, to some degree. People are eager to abdicate personal accountability for personal critical thinking by blindly handing off to something external... whether it be God, some politician, or a snake charmer promising absolution when the Rapture comes.

Being present and conscious at all times does take a lot of work — not to mention the extra time it takes to verify and test the veracity of something as it applies at a personal level — and most would rather forego the experience.

I'm just grateful that one of the things my parents did teach me was the importance of thinking for yourself.

Thanks for stopping by, and have a great weekend!

Comments, feedback and other interaction is invited and welcomed! Because — after all — SOCIAL content is about interacting, right? Leave a comment — share your experiences — be part of the conversation! I do my best to answer comments, even if it sometimes takes a few days!

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Created at 2025.10.03 17:00 PST
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