Truth poll

[ciphergoth]

I should really post this on a Monday but I might as well do it now. A whole bunch of assertions to do with truth that it occurred to me to poll about...

[Poll #1365485]

Comments

[uon.livejournal.com]

The poll seems to make the assumption that one has a single belief system that is applied at all times; that's certainly not the case for me. I actively enjoy participating in ridiculous hippie ceremonies or believing that the flowers or trees are talking to me, because these can be fun things to believe under certain circumstances, and believing them alters my interactions with the world in (what I think are) beneficial ways. However, at the end of the day, deep down, I still don't necessarily really actually believe that the flowers are talking to me, in the sense that if asked under oath in a court of law whether or not the flowers were talking to me, I would say no.

You could argue that in this case I don't believe this nonsense about the flowers, and everything else is just layers of affectation or pretense on top, but I don't think this is the case either. I don't live a life which is completely consistent with all of the beliefs I profess, and I have a nagging guilty feeling that I would not enjoy it if I did. (This is not helped by the fact that a lot of people I've encountered who have led particularly ideologically pure lifestyles in one way or another have also been gigantically insufferable arses in one way or another).

I'm not sure I understand where the line is drawn between "believing X" and "behaving as if you believe X", or the extent to which such a line exists.

[henry_the_cow]

I've had similar experiences. For me, the question is whether I'm in control of the beliefs (and can draw what I need from the experience) or whether the beliefs are in control of me (and limiting my behaviour and/or understanding).

This links to Paul's question, "Where science fails to grasp what it reaches for, other approaches may be needed". My initial reaction was to think of politics; we have far from perfect knowledge yet still have to make decisions. Uon's comment reminds me that this is true of the psyche too, only more so. It also holds for relationships and dealing with people in general.

[mopani.livejournal.com]

I agree: thought systems are like working models that we can pick up, use and apply in situations, as we see fit. i like receiving guidance from trees or noticing how often 'karma' happens (that guy who just stole my wallet got run over by a car as he ran away, etc) at the same time as i know that my parents are successful at what they do because god helps them, at the same time as i know that all THIS that we have is a collection of fizzing particles that collided purely by chance.

the more models we have to work with and hold in our head simultaneously, then the more pleasure, fulfillment and exercise we get.