Arguments for/against belief systems...
- Thread starter marv
- Start date
I think I know what you are asking...marv said:
The difference is in the level of evidence supporting the belief.
In the "belief" of a God there is ZERO evidence for the existence of that God.
In the "belief" of a partner's faithfulness, there is significant evidence of character - e.g. you hopefully will have been around them for a while, know them quite well etc. You will therefore have built up a reasonable picture of them, including a subconscious (or conscious) determination of their likelihood to cheat on you - i.e. a probability.
Your "belief" that they are not cheating on you is really just you saying: "On the balance of probability, they are not cheating on me."
The "belief" has to be put in context of the available evidence.
For example:
- I do NOT believe that there is an invisible pink unicorn on my desk because there is no evidence.
- I DO believe that I have more than $10 in my bank account - because I have evidence that there was more than that in there yesterday and I know I haven't spent enough in the intervening time to drop it below $10. However, I can not know for certain that there hasn't been a clerical error that has left me with less than $10. But my assessment of the probability is such that I do believe that I have more than $10.
1. You will never find out because you die and you rott
2. You can send a private investigator to tail her ass 24/7. Plus you can come home early one day and maybe catch them going at it in your bed... Whereas you're not gonna come home and find 'God' in your bed
2. You can send a private investigator to tail her ass 24/7. Plus you can come home early one day and maybe catch them going at it in your bed... Whereas you're not gonna come home and find 'God' in your bed
marv said:The correct answer...
I would not say available evidence, but at most only evidence for which has been uncovered. There could always be that piece of evidence that exists that because of our limitations we have been unable to uncover.
And I would also note that evidence can be very very misleading. As a married man, I am faced day to day with evidence that "could" show that my wife is having an affair. It is my suggestiveness and my predisposition to jealousy that will dictate what I make of that evidence. Like everything, evidence is subjective of interpretation.
Even if I did find a man (that is not me) in bed with my wife, that evidence doesn't prove anything at all. Based on my interpretation, it merely suggests that something is probably happening outside my observation or my ability to observe.
Max
Available evidence = evidence that has been uncovered.MadMaxReborn said:
Surely until it is uncovered it is not evidence.
Interpretation of evidence is itself based on every other bit of evidence that you have encountered in your life.MadMaxRebon said:
Which is also why I said that "belief" based on evidence (as opposed to belief based on zero evidence) is actually just a matter of assessment of probability - that assessment being based on ALL evidence / experience to date.