Do you believe everything that you know?

A curious take on Knowledge vs belief.

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Not a shred of evidence exists in favour of the idea that life is serious

Brendan Gill

This is an extremely inquisitive 100^th differential on a conversation that has been rigorously exhausted by philosophers, scientists, religious groups, epistemologists and curious people all across the world.

Do you believe everything you know to be true? The facts that we internalize as the truth without much inquisition. The first batch of people that sat with the question of whether earth is round or flat may have exercised a bit more thought around what is really true versus say the 2017 class of 4^th grade biology students that gets this information passed down with a few “logical” reasons to cement the idea. So what makes you believe that there is 24 hours in the day? That the sun is a star? That the letter ‘J’ doesn’t appear on the periodic table? That there are 50 pairs of muscles in the mouth? What makes you believe that sushi is actually vile (completely relative 🙂 )?

What makes these facts truth? Is it because they are passed down by a “credible” source (Your 63-year-old physics professor)? Is it because they have been proven before (saves you the admin)? Is it based on experience? Is it because there isn’t enough evidence to disprove it? Is it purely a choice?

Incredibly vague background story: I had a conversation with a good friend a few weeks ago and they seemed to be in a bit of pickle about their stance on a certain topic and what was the “right” thing to do. She used the words ‘believe’ and ‘know’ interchangeably. To justify her unique moral views she would speak on her belief in what is right and wrong guided mostly by religion and to account for what society deems as correct she would speak on knowledge acquired through years of experience. For most this shouldn’t be a predicament at all, for some this might raise the question of what is truly the fundamental difference between knowledge and belief?

Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy (IEP) gives a very detailed definition of these terms (mental states) which ultimately boils down to; Belief is the acceptance or confidence that something is true or exists. Belief exists in the context of a subject, doesn’t require proof. Once there is proof it becomes knowledge. That being said, knowledge is defined as the awareness or familiarity gained through experience or association of a fact or situation. Knowledge is a subset of belief. There is a cool Gumball Machine analogy that explains this even better.(Link below)

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Beliefs are the things that we personally understand to be true but may in fact not actually be true. Guided by our experiences, deductions, and inferences or by merely accepting what others believe to be true. Most beliefs were formed during childhood; our parents, our school environment our friends all played a vital role in molding these beliefs. Think simple: when you were young and impressionable; monsters in the dark, the concept of “good” and even the tooth fairy were all assumed to be fact.

Our opinions, personal testimony and anecdotal evidence all fall into this category of beliefs. Sometimes belief is not a choice. It is an involuntary action occurring after your own internal standard for evidence has been met (think physiology). Simply put; an important part of being convinced relies greatly on belief. It also important to realise that our own standard of evidence is not equivalent to actual (scientific) evidence. And honestly that’s alright.

Knowledge in its vast forms is the small fraction of our beliefs that actually meet the scientific standard of evidence. The small fraction of our beliefs that is actually true. Psychology today has a brilliant article that probes most questions about our approach to knowledge. Most sources speak about propositional knowledge; relating to facts such as saying “I know that 1+1 gives us two”. Procedural knowledge pertaining to skills like when your mom says “I know how to bake a cake” or acquittance knowledge used to explain the ability to identify objects like when you say “that is a juice box”. Knowing is the ability to have answers, a mental accent to the things you say. Knowledge is collected feverishly through some or other learning process.

The absolute truth doesn’t change whether we have knowledge of it or not (a great point of reference for religion). Alternatively, our awareness of the truth can change as we obtain more knowledge. Apparent truth (our knowledge) is transient and changes continuously with time. I had (have) a lot of questions prior to writing this, and because of habit here are some “take homes”:

• Remain curious– a big part of the human experience relies on our ability to apply the things we know and so it is important to be a perpetual scholar. Learning and unlearning as you go. Whether by accident or intentionally learn, play and stay curious (Dr. Doe Reference)
• Ask questions– probe yourself and others and use good old Google when in a knot. Whether this leads to solid answers or more questions it’s all part of the process. Some of my biggest questions leading up to this were; if all of knowledge must be justified, what justifies this justification? What validates our logic? What some of your questions?
• Don’t stop believing– many of us cling strongly to our beliefs, many are true and have served us well for a big part if not all our lives. Beliefs can affect the way we think, feel, and act and we need to remain self-aware in that regard. Acknowledge your beliefs and discern between the limiting and empowering ones. Rid yourself of limiting beliefs and allow yourself to act resiliently and harbour positive thoughts and emotions.

Without attention it cannot go on

Sadhguru

Though they paint the picture of polar opposites it is safe to conclude that knowledge is valuable and important for the vitality of our beliefs. Nurture your inquisitive nature and search the justification that will validate all your truths.

Thank you for Reading

Further reading and references

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wf0Mza3Ju0Y https://www.psychologytoday.com/za/blog/theory-knowledge/201312/what-is-knowledge-brief-primerhttps://www.iep.utm.edu/epistemo/