My Definition of Belief

 

My definition of belief is an opinion held by a person that is the set truth for that person.  In my opinion, beliefs are something that limit us.  Opinions are up for debate, but when you get into beliefs people are not as willing to change.  We all have our beliefs and it will take a lot to change them.

I believe in skepticism.  Remaining skeptical but open-minding is something I find essential to my observance of anything.   I’m very accepting of other beliefs and opinions, but I have to remain skeptical and not just accept things as truth.  Believing in something is a hard process for me because I always have a degree of skepticism.  I think without my skepticism I would feel like I was shutting out possibilities and just limiting myself to one.

I believe in analysis.  I constantly find myself analyzing everything in my life.  Picking apart possibilities, concepts, situations, etc. is a hobby of mine that really outlines my spirituality.  Analysis is such a large part of my philosophical being, because I’m constantly analyzing the concept of a higher spiritual being and my purpose in life.  This belief in analysis has also crept into my musical tastes.  I find myself picking apart songs and putting them back together.  Experimental music always excites me, because of its chaotic nature and difficulty and free form.  When I listen to experimental music I find myself shutting off my analytical mindset and just letting it take me.

I believe in mystery, more specifically, I believe that not everything should be explained.  Life would be so dull if everything was just laid out for us.  This belief is the reason quantum physics excites me.  Questioning the unknown is what makes my life worthwhile. All of the possibilities that I’m confronted with are so exciting and I really don’t want to choose just one and leave it at that.  If I were to make a generalization, I would say that most people believe in clarity.  Humans love knowing what they are faced with.  The Unknown is something that frightens our race and it seems to be instinctual for us to try to explain it away. 

The connection between these first three beliefs is becoming apparent to me.  Even if there isn’t much of a separation between analysis and skepticism, but if I analyze something, wouldn’t that mean I’m trying to explain it?  I suppose analysis and skepticism is my way of gaining closure from mystery.  Instead of getting an answer I have so much fun analyzing and cycling between possibilities that I don’t need an answer.  This connection between concepts brings me to my next belief.

I believe in connection.  It’s from empirical data that I have gained this belief.  It’s hard to explain exactly how I came up with belief, but I believe that everything I see in my life is connected in some way, shape or form.  We’d like to think that we have nothing in common with brutal tyrants or serial killers, but we’re all people and we are all born with the same potential in us.  If we all tried to understand the people we feel are so different from us, I think we would stop having so much conflict.

Beliefs are a powerful thing.  They can simultaneously limit us and give us purpose.  Without them what would we base our reality on?  Beliefs are a fact of life and there is no doubt we would be lost without them.  We will always have our belief and those beliefs will continue to shape our being. 

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