In the post about rationalism I wrote of the difference between “good” beliefs and the truth and why one should always seek truth rather than comfort. However, oftentimes there is no truth. Some things we may never know, at least in our lifetime. This post is about what to do when you can never know.
Comfort
It is a natural human tendency to stick to that which is familiar to us, and as a corollary, like that which is familiar to us more. This is called the familiarity bias. While it is only one reason, it seems to be quite a strong one in terms of why people choose certain beliefs about the unknowable. People who grow up around Christian beliefs and ideas of life after death feel more comfortable with the idea, and are therefore more likely to accept it as their belief.
In addition to the familiarity bias, social proof works in exactly the same way. Someone growing up with other Christian people (it should be noted Christians are only being used for exemplification purposes) would suggest to that someone that in order to be accepted (whether it be true or not) they ought to become Christian also.
Why is The Above Relevant?
The above is relevant because when it comes to the unknowable i.e. the uncertain we tend to rely on our circumstance and others around us to make up our mind. Religion is one way of providing answers to the unknowable. Although an (agnostic) atheist myself there is by no means a correct answer to questions such as “is there life after death?” (hence my bracketed “agnostic”).
Very often these beliefs are indifferent. Indifferent in the sense that there are good Muslims and bad Muslims, good Christians and bad Christians, good atheists and bad atheists; the beliefs do not wholly govern everyone’s actions. However, blindly accepted beliefs can be harmful, in particular to the individual.
Questions
I already posted about the importance of questions. Here’s another way to use them. Question how and why you believe something. I’ll admit this may seem anti-religion, it’s not intended to be. It’s intended to be anti-ignorance.
No matter your system or combination of beliefs, asking questions about them will lead to finding more truth for yourself, even if the truth is unknowable. For example, determinism. You may be one of those people who just needs to be in control all the time. Or you may be one of those people that always encounters unforeseen obstacles regardless of the amount of preplanning. It may be empowering for the former to believe in absolute free-will and the latter to believe in absolute determinism. Here it is okay to choose, because the truth is unknown, yet you are coming to terms with a personal truth. So, just ask yourself which is more beneficial and believe it. Beliefs are just continuous choices. You can always begin to change your choices.
“Beliefs are just continuous choices”
The dangers of unknown truths
The recent surge in terrorism, or at least surge in reporting on terrorism (who knows if they correlate realistically) has caused people to raise the all important question of “why?”. Why would anyone sacrifice themselves for their God? While an answer to this question may save many lives, it is only useful if those considering terrorism ask it of themselves. It is, perhaps, too easy to assume that one could be rationalised out of an argument they did not rationalise themselves in to though. Assuming you could get a to-be terrorist to ask himself “why?” or a more specific form of the question: “why do you believe the outcome of your actions are thus?”
If this question is asked and you get an answer of “I just do” or “everyone else does” or “[insert religious text here] says so” you know the conclusion never contained a trace of reason in its development. The tenets of ethics are for the most part, and despite obvious emotional reasons for having them, based off reason. It is hard to be ethical (in the rationalistic/Stoic sense) if reason is not in sight.
The danger it seems comes from thinking you know, when in fact you only believe. They should never be confused. Knowing brings connotations of absolutism and therefore radicalism. By asking whether you know or whether you believe you can return to rationality. Then you can return to the ethics by asking yourself whether or not the action is right or wrong.
Summarised:
- Question why you have a particular belief
- Question your “knowledge”, ask whether you actually know or you just think you know and how you came to any conclusion
- Ask how a particular belief benefits you in any way, it’s okay to choose, since a belief is just a continuous choice
