Today I am going to share the most valuable lesson I’ve learned in life: challenging your beliefs. Something that has provided me deep insight into how the world works and why it works the way it does. It is both powerful and dangerous and necessary for one to achieve enlightenment.
When you’re presented information, you are given something that has passed through another person. And since language is very powerful, something like history can change through the way it’s presented. Or texts and emails can be interpreted differently depending who reads it. Thus it is imperative to realize that any piece of information you possess could be incorrect.
And this doesn’t end with information you’ve read from books or heard from friends. Even those close to you, like parents and trusted educators, may present information that isn’t well researched. Think for a moment about the political atmosphere in the United States. We have two parties that vehemently oppose each other due to conflicting ideals. If you’re on one side of the coin, it appears to you that your opponents are clearly and unambiguously wrong. However, if you stop and think about it, you should ask yourself an important question. How can they believe in something that is so obviously incorrect? If your parents are distinctly liberal or conservative, that is an indication that information they have told to you may in fact be misguided. This is an important realization as a child gets older and realizes that their parents are fallible humans like everyone else and should be scrutinized.
The important lesson here is that if someone tells you one thing and you believe it without question, you are discounting any valid information that may exist elsewhere in the universe. And because of that, you may live a less-than-average quality lifestyle because you aren’t exposed to truth. Information is almost always your best path to success and happiness. “Ignorance is bliss” only works when you’re young and unattached from the system, as you get older it simply becomes a gamble that you will inevitably lose.
There is a concept in neuroscience called “cognitive dissonance”, the discomfort of holding conflicting thoughts or opinions. This is a problem because belief actively filters your perception of reality. Your experiences will literally be altered to make sense to how you perceive the world. Normally this would be a good thing because otherwise everything would be incredibly confusing. But the problem with belief is that if you encounter conflicting data or reflect on something new, you’ll design it to fit within your reality. This is as opposed to understanding the truth behind it. For instance, if you are a devout Christian, you may believe the Earth was created by God very recently. If you are presented with fossils of dinosaurs tens of millions of years prior to the creation event, you’ll alter that data to fit your beliefs rather than accepting the reality of what’s presented. You cannot both believe the Earth is 4.5 billion years old AND that it was created less than 10,000 years ago. It wouldn’t make sense. Thus we begin to realize that holding beliefs may alter what information you’re willing or even able to interpret. And this doesn’t apply solely to large institutions like religion. It applies equally to subtle aspects of language, social norms, dating, etc.
And this continues with a secondary problem. If a person believes that the Earth was created by God some 10,000 years prior, than he or she may never even consider digging into the ground to understand what dirt, rock, and clay is. They may never stumble on dinosaur fossils in the first place. And this presents the next big problem: belief gives you answers, not truth. And when you have answers, you will rarely seek understanding. Think of the myriad of scientific discoveries that would never have been reached had humanity been content with their belief-based answers. Or simply look at the Dark Ages, a period of extremely slow advancement due to the persecution of thought outside of the Church.
What you should recognize here is that belief is only valuable to you, if determined personally. It’s something that should not be passed on to your children or friends. It is a personal journey to help us understand the world. And it begins with assessing which opinions are belief and which are observations. Be warned though, it is not always obvious and it is not always pleasant. You may be surprised to discover how different the world can look once you begin to recognize and challenge your beliefs. To succeed at this, you simply need to spend time learning or trying to understand why people hold conflicting values to you. Ask yourself difficult questions. If you recognize that someone dislikes something, don’t simply brush it off as a difference between you, try and understand why. If you dislike something, try and enjoy it. This is how you challenge your beliefs and begin to break free. Tear down the wall brick by brick.
Besides seeking truth, why else would someone expend this effort to see the world more clearly? For one, it makes your opposition to different ideals less intense. You become more humble and at peace with the world. You begin to realize that there is reason and purpose behind all things. You’ll also become less attached to material possessions as you realize product consumption is a belief. Judgement will feel less important and thus your confidence will increase. You’ll realize the world is complex and interesting. You’ll shed the idea that answers are important and rather it’s about observation. That there are no answers. And this will all lead to your freedom. Because ultimately belief is slavery and until you taste freedom for the first time, you have no idea what you’re missing.
Before closing this article I’d like to mention that belief and tradition are not inherently evil. I am fascinated by theology and would never wish upon humanity that it disappear. I also appreciate the traditions and how religion can connect people. What I fear is that people who believe strongly in these fictions are easily manipulated. There are theories that modern religions began as philosophies, presented by brilliant men many ages ago, and that the resulting institutions we have today formed over time. That their messages were lost as powerful men took over the reigns and manipulated vast peoples’ for their own achievements. Strict, naive belief is what I fear, not the concept of religion.