On Faith, Doubt, Certainty, and Uncertainty {poll added}

[Taylor Seraphim]

Thank you for pointing this out. Faith that Truth will stand up to questioning and Doubt, which keeps dialog open. If Faith cannot face Doubt, is it truly Faith? (Sorry, I should have made this point clearer.)


Does the clarification I made bridge the gap?

Faith is belief without evidence, and we have evidence that truth stands up to questioning and doubt.

So it is not faith.

 

[metis]

Confucius said (paraphrased) that the more you know the more you know you really don't know. IOW, with knowledge comes a large degree of humbleness, or at least it should.

 

[Taylor Seraphim]

Confucius said (paraphrased) that the more you know the more you know you really don't know. IOW, with knowledge comes a large degree of humbleness, or at least it should.

Yeah, we know very very very few things as fact.

 

[Twilight Hue]

Can anyone lead a productive life without exercising some faith? Have you lived your whole life doing only those things that have been confirmed to be correct - indeed can you?

I suppose it all depends if faith in your view is provisionally based on weither anything may or may not turn out to be the case in fact as opposed to convincing oneself completely before the facts come in.

I don't start with a conclusionary approach enough that a particular approach or event is going to result in an outcome with the type of certiany that it's going to be the case as far as the actual end result goes.

 

[Taylor Seraphim]

Can anyone lead a productive life without exercising some faith? Have you lived your whole life doing only those things that have been confirmed to be correct - indeed can you?

Yes. I have lived all my life past the age of 11 doing what is more probable or what is confirmed.

 

[crossfire]

Faith is belief without evidence, and we have evidence that truth stands up to questioning and doubt.

So it is not faith.

What would you call a belief before it is scrutinized, then? You have to have something to scrutinize, and the scrutiny should be done in good faith if one wishes to arrive at Truth. If one is looking for Victory instead of Truth, then of course there are going to be distortions and specious reasoning employed.

 

[Taylor Seraphim]

What would you call a belief before it is scrutinized, then? You have to have something to scrutinize, and the scrutiny should be done in good faith if one wishes to arrive at Truth. If one is looking for Victory instead of Truth, then of course there are going to be distortions and specious reasoning employed.

I do not hold a belief before I scrutinize it.

 

[crossfire]

I do not hold a belief before I scrutinize it.

What do you call that which is subject to doubt, then?

 

[Shad]

I disagree.
Most go wrong when they throw logic and reason out the window in order to support their assumed truth as being true.

We all live with a set of axioms whether we realize it or not. Do you think you are a brain in a vat or do you accept the axiom that reality exists, its not artificial, and you exist within it. Do you live a life with this axiom in mind or do you act as if you are a brain in a vat thus nothing actually happens to you. Do you treat threats, or events, that threaten to knock you off the mortal coil as real or artificial?

 

[Taylor Seraphim]

What do you call that which is subject to doubt, then?

An idea.

 

[crossfire]

An idea.

Fair enough. What do you think about the idea of Uncertainty being overall strengthening, while the idea of Certainty being overall weakening, if I might ask? (To address the rest of the OP to see if it makes sense.)

Thank you.

 

[Taylor Seraphim]

Fair enough. What do you think about the idea of Uncertainty being overall strengthening, while the idea of Certainty being overall weakening, if I might ask? (To address the rest of the OP to see if it makes sense.)

Thank you.

I think that uncertainty is the human condition, and we as humans have two options to deal with it.

1) We can admit our ignorance and try to find out what is most probable while still being uncertain.

2) we can convince ourselves that uncertain things are actually facts in order to have a false sense of security.

 

[Thanda]

Yes. I have lived all my life past the age of 11 doing what is more probable or what is confirmed.

More probable is still faith. And you'd still be surprised at how often you take most of the knowledge you live you life on for granted without ever questioning it. If you could quantify how much knowledge you have gained and which you use to live you life it would become pretty clear to you quite quickly that it is impossible to confirm or even take time to make an evaluation of the probabilities of every thing that influences your daily choices.

 

[crossfire]

Another tangent: is there any evidence that Faith is more closely associated to Idealism, whereas Doubt is more closely associated to Realism? (I'm not sure about this though, as both Idealism and Realism seem to tend more towards Certainty.)

 

[crossfire]

More probable is still faith. And you'd still be surprised at how often you take most of the knowledge you live you life on for granted without ever questioning it. If you could quantify how much knowledge you have gained and which you use to live you life it would become pretty clear to you quite quickly that it is impossible to confirm or even take time to make an evaluation of the probabilities of every thing that influences your daily choices.

I really appreciate your discussing the psychological aspect to this. How do you think that the Mind-Body connection compares to the Idealism-Realism dichotomy, and how does this connection/separation dynamic psychologically affect us?

 

[Thanda]

I really appreciate your discussing the psychological aspect to this. How do you think that the Mind-Body connection compares to the Idealism-Realism dichotomy, and how does this connection/separation dynamic psychologically affect us?

I'm not sure - I am not too familiar with those terms ("mind-body connection", "Idealism-Realism dichotomy").

Would you care to explain?

 

[Taylor Seraphim]

More probable is still faith. And you'd still be surprised at how often you take most of the knowledge you live you life on for granted without ever questioning it. If you could quantify how much knowledge you have gained and which you use to live you life it would become pretty clear to you quite quickly that it is impossible to confirm or even take time to make an evaluation of the probabilities of every thing that influences your daily choices.

Bull****.

Faith is having belief in something regardless of evidence.

Do not try to twist words to make your argument.

 

[crossfire]

I'm not sure - I am not too familiar with those terms ("mind-body connection", "Idealism-Realism dichotomy").

Would you care to explain?

Mind-Body connection: Our thoughts and emotions can affect the health of our body, as well as bodily functions affecting our mental functions and attitudes. Mind (ideal) and Body (real) are interconnected.
Idealism-Realism dichotomy--reality is mental/spiritual vs reality is independent of mind.

 

[Thanda]

Bull****.

Faith is having belief in something regardless of evidence.

Do not try to twist words to make your argument.

I challenge you to find any dictionary that agrees with your definition.

 

[Taylor Seraphim]

I challenge you to find any dictionary that agrees with your definition.

http://www.dictionary.com/browse/faith

That did not take long.