Religious
people of the world generally agree that there is a
supernatural entity of some kind, but they cannot
seem to agree upon what that entity is, or upon what,
if anything, it wants from us. Yet one belief most religious
people appear to have in common is that faith of some
kind is an inescapable part of being human, and that
anyone who does not currently believe in a god or a
devil or a transmigrating soul of some sort must
therefore be looking for something in which
to believe. As an atheist I've been
told many times: "Everyone must
believe in something!"
So if it is any
comfort to these well-meaning people, let me affirm
that I do believe in something. (It is just not what they
believe in.) What is more, casual
observation would seem to indicate that my own belief
is considerably more robust and durable than that of
most traditional believers. For it is they, not I, who must
seek periodic reinforcement of their beliefs through
rote, ritual, recitation, and tradition, lest they
find opportunity to think about those beliefs too
critically. It is they, not I, who
crave the exclusive fellowship of others of similar
belief, so they can reassure one another that because
they all share the same fantasy they are not really
fantasizing. It is they, not I, who
feel their beliefs threatened by the possibility that
others might have different ideas, and who thus feel
compelled to convert everyone, if not exactly to their own view,
then at least to something not too frighteningly different from it.
What is it that
I believe in, so easily and naturally that it does
not require a constant effort to deny and stifle the
doubt which otherwise would inevitably arise? What is it that I believe in, so
strongly and spontaneously that the combined forces
of hope and dread cannot persuade me that I ought
rather to believe in the unbelievable? What is it that I believe in,
that I did not even have to search for but simply
made itself obvious to me when I was finally ready to
see it?
It's simple. What I believe in is reality. Now, reality might include gods
or it might not. But so far I have seen
no credible evidence hinting at the existence of
gods, which is not counterbalanced by evidence of at
least equal weight to the contrary. True, I cannot disprove the
existence of gods. But neither can
believers prove their own gods' existence, nor can
they disprove the existence of the gods of other
believers. That is, after all, why
religious belief is referred to as "faith."
Granted,
unadorned reality is not nearly as appealing as the
almost cartoonish splendor of organized religion,
just as sobriety is not nearly as appealing as
intoxication. Reality doesn't pretend
to answer all of our questions with charming legends
and pretty myths. Reality doesn't promise
us life after death. Reality doesn't decree
what is right and what is wrong, but challenges us to
consider which course of action will produce the
greatest benefit and the least harm. Reality doesn't hold out the
hope that some caring but unseen entity is guiding us
when we have tough decisions to make. Reality doesn't cheer us, when
things go wrong, with the dream that a mysterious
power is shaping all events toward a happy end. Worst of all, because of the
imperfection of our own senses and reason, many
aspects of reality are infuriatingly difficult to pin
down with certainty. Yet reality has one
incontestable point in its favor: because it is real, you never
have to make-believe in it. Though considerable
investigation and experimentation are sometimes
required in order to discover the truth of reality,
once it is clear all you must do is open your eyes
and mind to it, and have the intellectual integrity
and courage to accept it.
Reality is not
always unambiguously clear, however. In such cases we must consider
the possibilities based on incomplete or questionable
information, either tentatively selecting that
hypothesis which seems most plausible or desirable at
the time, or resolving to postpone any decision until
we have more information. Now, selecting the obvious
option—that the simplest answer in accord with
the facts is the most likely to be true—is in
this case unsatisfactory to most people, no matter
how logical and pragmatic they may be in other
matters. They desperately want
all the promises of religion to be true, and because
nothing positively disproves the existence of gods,
they choose to believe. If that makes them happy that is
fine with me, so long as they do not demand that I
also accept their choice. For in my own view religion
appears a delusion, and not an entirely benign one at
that. And the thought of
allowing myself to succumb to delusion—no matter
how grand and glorious—makes me unhappy.
So, yes, I do
have my belief, though it might be quite different
from yours. If you are happy with
your belief and I am satisfied with mine, and if
exchanging beliefs would make us both unhappy and
dissatisfied, then let each be true to his own mind
and conscience, and may happiness and peace be to us
all as we walk the road of life together.
=SAJ= (02 June 2003)
Everyone is entitled to his own opinion but not
to his own facts. - Daniel Patrick Moynihan
My thinking has evolved over the 6 1/2 years since last revising
this essay in 2003. It hinges on the fact that there are two
distinct kinds of belief.
[1] Conditional belief, usually expressed as belief that something
is probably true, is the tentative acceptance of an idea as
plausibly true, on condition that it seems most credibly true in
light of current evidence. Conditional belief is subject to
revision or rejection whenever it's found to conflict with factual
evidence, or if there comes to light another idea presenting a more
convincing explanation of the evidence. Conditional belief is
a useful tool for formulating hypotheses, for testing ideas, and for
making decisions based on available evidence that's less than
complete or not well understood. By its nature, conditionality
can't offer us certainty. However, it allows us to adjust our
beliefs to reality as we learn more about it.
[2] Unconditional belief, typically expressed as belief in
something as unquestionably true, is dedication to an idea to the
extent that it's held to be true with little or no supporting
evidence, or even in the face of evidence to the contrary.
Unconditional belief is an effort to imbue an idea with an
artificial certainty that evidence doesn't justify. In other
words, it's a kind of make-believe; it allows people a comforting
illusion of certainty without evidence. It's thus immensely
popular, since it allows people to believe whatever they like.
But it's also dangerous, because it provides no reliable reference
to distinguish what actually is true (consistent with reality) from
what only seems true (consistent with existing belief).
Unconditional belief is founded on an unspoken assumption that
reality must conform to belief, rather than the other way around.
This leads to the curious problem that someone else's intense
unconditional belief in something entirely different would either
skew reality in a different direction or else somehow generate a
different reality for each person. This obviously doesn't
square well with the even more popular belief that all human beings
and their universe are bound by one and only one reality.
Thus I can no longer say that I believe in anything, not
even reality. To do so would be to imply that I have a
clear idea of what reality is, when in fact all I have—all any of us
has, if we're honest about it—is not a clear view of reality itself,
but only an incomplete, sensually flawed, and experientially biased
human perception of it. Flawed perceptions of reality, if we
become attached to them and are unwilling to let go of them,
actually get in the way of discovering the truth about reality,
whatever that might be. The best we can do is simply resolve
to accept reality, whatever it is, and try to learn about it with as
little bias as we can manage, allowing our beliefs to conform to
reality, rather than demanding that reality conform to our beliefs.
So it comes down to this:
NO ONE MUST BELIEVE IN ANYTHING!
Unconditionally believing in something is a futile concept.
Without good evidence it's unjustified, and with good evidence it's
unnecessary. Moreover, it's a dangerously distorting medium
that leads us to accept or reject ideas on the basis of something
other than their conformance to reality, and thus can (and all too
often does) lead us away from truth rather than toward it.
What I believe, I believe conditionally, on the basis of my
current six decades of experience, yet still subject to refinement,
revision, or replacement if conflicting evidence or inconsistency of
reason should come to light. Here's the basis of it:
- Despite that we may each perceive or interpret reality
differently, there's still only one reality by which we're all
bound, a reality utterly indifferent to, and unaffected by, what
anyone (or even everyone) perceives or believes about it.
- Truth is an idea that's in accord with reality.
- No intensity or popularity of belief can rectify a false idea
or improve one that's already true.
- Any idea worth believing should be able to withstand critical
scrutiny in light of verifiable evidence and sound reason based
thereon. If it can't, we're better off not believing it.
We should, therefore, be eager and unafraid to challenge our
beliefs whenever the opportunity arises. Occasionally, we
might find a belief that fails to hold up to scrutiny (as has indeed
been the case in this self-critique of an older essay). But
while that's the defeat of an idea, it's a victory for us. For
we've learned something in the process, and our beliefs have thus
become more in tune with reality. Even though reality isn't
always as pleasant as we might wish, being in tune with it enhances
our ability to deal with it intelligently and effectively, so we're
better off in the long run.
=SAJ= (01 January 2010)
In a later essay, "Beyond
Belief" (2011), I attempt to distance myself
from belief, since for many people belief, especially the sort
implied by the phrase "belief in," carries
this connotation of willful bias, which,
rather than revealing truth, all too often distorts
or hides it instead, and is thus to be avoided by any honest
thinker.