I am probably not the right person to say this, seeing as how my beliefs have changed, but I think I have an idea as to why we do or don't believe in religion or not. Bear in mind, I'm no expert, but I have enough experience in this matter to believe my views have ground.
What is my ultimate belief, you ask? To put it simply, I believe that we are wired to a certain way of thinking from birth. It may change by small variations due to environmental factors, but said differentiations are never far from the original way of thinking. This may seem like an odd concept, but if you pay enough attention, you might see how I am getting this idea.
I think this because since I was young, I was always more inclined to logic and rationality, than emotionally related matters. This fact made it hard for me to truly believe in the religion I was raised in (mormonism, for those who are curious). I tried desperately to keep the faith, but ultimately, I couldn't accept religious views any longer.
Another example that seems to promote my idea is the constant debating that goes on between religion, and atheism. Both sides send massive barrages of rhetoric (emotional appeals, logical appeals, data, etc.), and then use even more rhetoric to disprove the other. The main thing I seem to notice is how some people are so set in their beliefs, nothing the other side says even seems to matter. I know that many factors can add together to create such dogmaticism, but it doesn't change the fact that they only are receptive to ones that relate to their beliefs as a whole. By my views, this is more than simple indoctrinations.
My ultimate view is that you are predetermined in your beliefs, even before you have a chance to look at any of the sides. That is why so many of these arguments, no matter how hard any of us tries, will never persuade anyone, unless they were like me, who was already bound to change beliefs.
Now my question for the reader of this OP: do you agree? why or why not?
Although that might explain a certain stubborness, I don't agree that your convictions are cast in stone. What you said is something in the line of 'belief is dependant of character', at least that's what I retained. But character can and will change. Age/life experience for example can change your convictions slowly over time, or quite fast depending on what you live through. And traumatisms can change that quite radically. And open-minded persons might not necessarily change their convictions fundamentally, but might never end to adapt/fine-tune their convictions.
Just my thrown-in penny. But it's an interesting approach nonetheless
Although that might explain a certain stubborness, I don't agree that your convictions are cast in stone. What you said is something in the line of 'belief is dependant of character', at least that's what I retained. But character can and will change. Age/life experience for example can change your convictions slowly over time, or quite fast depending on what you live through. And traumatisms can change that quite radically. And open-minded persons might not necessarily change their convictions fundamentally, but might never end to adapt/fine-tune their convictions.
They aren't cast in stone, they seem more like playdough. no matter how much you stretch it, or mold it, it will always be the same, just in a different formation. radical events are one of the only things that can actually break this, but as time changes us, it can also change us back as well. the event may traumatize us, but we also have a chance of reverting back to the way it was before said event.
like I said earlier, the fine-tuning is never far from the original belief, just a refinement of it, but it is still the same belief in the end.
Just my thrown-in penny. But it's an interesting approach nonetheless
I'm glad you approve. I enjoy learning from another perspective.
I've thought about this before, and came to the conclusion that this isn't likely. Something similar, however, is.
How "hardwired" you are to accept what people tell you, how "hardwired" you are to explore your own knowledge, and how much you think for yourself determines what you believe.
I've noticed that people who profess to be extremely religious or are obviously so are usually very trusting people. They're the ones who look up when someone says gullible is on the ceiling, or says a word isn't in the dictionary. Then there's those who just profess to believe, and will take on your word common claims or statements, but might go, "Wait, that sounds a little crazy, are you sure?" Finally, there's those who don't believe, and casually question many things. "Was what my teacher said right?"
Keep in mind this is just the general theme that I have noticed, and that of course there are always exceptions.
Well, since this is a relatively new thread, I'll just stick with the general topic.
Personally, well, how do I word this? I'm not entirely sure that we stay the same people all through our lives. I understand what you're saying about being "hard-wired," but that's just the underlying personality. What comes through in the outside is almost always different than what we truly feel.
Though, there are the lucky few who stay the same their entire lives, being just as light-hearted and pure as since they were born, but again, that's uncommon. We may be made of the same material no matter how much we are "molded."
I think of it almost like a popcorn kernal. We are slightly "dull" and "normal" in the beggining, but after the "microwave" of life, we turn into something entirely different. We may be made of the same materials, but hardly anybody would classify us as being the "same."
Meh, my opinion, argue it until your heart's content.
I don't know if we are "wired" to believe a certain way, but we may be mentally more inclined. The biggest impact on how we determine if we are religious is what makes the most sense to us. This is often affected by our surroundings that we grow up with, like you said, but is also impacted by how we react with religion. If you grow up atheist, more likely than not, you will not see a reason to believe in a God and will choose not to pursue into religion (if I was raised an atheist, I probably wouldn't pursue religion either). If you are religious, however, you use religion as a comfort blanket of sorts and prefer to stay close to whatever deity(ies) you believe in. Personally, I like to believe that there is a big Guy up there who will (in one way or another) deal with my problems and listen to me when I need someone to really talk to. I also like to think that when I die, I won't just lose consciousness and spend the rest of eternity in a ditch.
@MGW-thanks for the video. it was interesting, and it explains quite a bit.
I guess my question for now:
I have met people like me, who are extremely logic based, but are still inclined to religion. they are just as intelligent as me, but they still believe. why is it that some people (even though they are well educated, see the signs, and understand math and science) still choose to follow their religion? in this case, i mean there is nothing that is stopping them from no longer believing, and nobody that would oppose him doing so.
I guess my question for now: I have met people like me, who are extremely logic based, but are still inclined to religion. they are just as intelligent as me, but they still believe. why is it that some people (even though they are well educated, see the signs, and understand math and science) still choose to follow their religion? in this case, i mean there is nothing that is stopping them from no longer believing, and nobody that would oppose him doing so. -Blade
Nobody is stopping them but themselves. You've got to understand that some people will choose religion over atheism if given the choice, no matter how smart or logical they are.
I have met people like me, who are extremely logic based, but are still inclined to religion. they are just as intelligent as me, but they still believe. why is it that some people (even though they are well educated, see the signs, and understand math and science) still choose to follow their religion? in this case, i mean there is nothing that is stopping them from no longer believing, and nobody that would oppose him doing so.
For some people there is no reason to stop beliving. I'm at a point where I feel like I'd be a pretty similar person if I were to be atheist, santanist, or whatever. For me, religion doesn't really play a major role in my life. There's no good reason to keep, but no good reason to lose it either.
For some people there is no reason to stop beliving. I'm at a point where I feel like I'd be a pretty similar person if I were to be atheist, santanist, or whatever. For me, religion doesn't really play a major role in my life. There's no good reason to keep, but no good reason to lose it either.
What about caring whether what you're accepting is real or not? Wouldn't that be a good reason to drop beliefs that have nothing supporting them?
What about caring whether what you're accepting is real or not? Wouldn't that be a good reason to drop beliefs that have nothing supporting them?
It's just not a big enough issue in my life. My religion doesn't really affect my decisions, I just believe in god and pray to him every night. But my life isn't greatly affected by knowing whether believing in god is a logical thing to do. I honestly don't care if it's real or not. Though that might just be because I have other things on my mind most of the time.
why is it that some people (even though they are well educated, see the signs, and understand math and science) still choose to follow their religion?
So given this the answer to this question might be some people care that what they believe is true or not while others do not. I would consider this to be a fault in the logical thinking process.
So given this the answer to this question might be some people care that what they believe is true or not while others do not. I would consider this to be a fault in the logical thinking process.
I tend to care about knowing if something is true or not. Just not in this case. For example, should I know what is true about bears in case I happen to meet one? Yes. But there's no need to care about what happens to me after death. That, is unavoidable. I just don't see a reason to look for the truth of the afterlife. To me it seems pointless. Like learning Latin. There's no real benefit as far as I can see.
