Belief is an essential component of human existence. Whether it be religious, atheistic, or political, believing in a system of values provides sustenance to the human psyche. Even among adherents of nihilism, one observes a pattern of belief that is systematic. However, why is it that humans need belief to sustain them? Furthermore, what is belief?
According to Webster’s dictionary, the latter of these is defined as “a state or habit of mind in which trust or confidence is placed in some person or thing.” In addition, it is “something that is accepted, considered to be true, or held as an opinion.” Thus, it is the immersion of the human psyche in a system of thought that provides a recognizable and relatable pattern of both thought and behavior. Belief is something that is “considered true” both implicitly and explicitly.
Therefore, belief can be considered one of the most powerful mechanisms of the human psyche, as it is the fundamental axiomatic structure by which one orients oneself. What one believes not only strongly influences thoughts and behaviors, but also provides essence and structure to perception. How one perceives oneself, others, and the world around them is strongly influenced by what one believes to be true.
The influence that belief has on thoughts and behaviors must be strongly considered when choosing a system of belief. What one believes can influence the acts against humanity in which one may engage. Thus, it is important that a belief structure is not only beneficial for the individual but for others as well.
In addition, what may sometimes appear to benefit the individual on the surface may, in fact, be detrimental. For example, if what one believes emphasizes hedonistic tendencies, although on the surface it appears to benefit the individual, the benefit is but expedient, with little to no development. Over time, this may only lead to a demented and demonic self that burdens the world and oneself.
Nevertheless, belief is that which often provides meaning and structure in the face of the chaos of life. The belief systems that human thought provides are means of organizing one’s psyche and the world around them. Without such systems, one discovers only chaos. It is through the perceptual template of belief that relatedness, coherence, and familiarity can emerge within the psyche of the individual.
These belief systems appear to be a consequence of evolutionary processes. As humans evolved the capacity for symbolic thought, they began to formulate and articulate concepts related to the means of survival. These concepts would have then been organized and disseminated throughout individual tribes, helping promote coherence and cohesion. Cooperation among inhabitants would have become more efficient as communication between them developed in similarity.
As time progressed, these belief systems increased in complexity, with narrative elaboration developing alongside the values of survival. In addition, this increased complexity was accompanied by the unification of several regional tribes that went on to form the world’s first civilizations. With this formation came the introduction of writing, which further developed the complex nature of belief systems.
Diverse interpretations of existing belief systems flourished during the first millennium BCE, as religious scholars and philosophers contemplated writings of their day and earlier periods. The concepts of God, the soul, meaning, and value were central themes of revision. Religious scholars sought answers to these concepts through spiritual and religious means, while philosophers looked to logic and rationality as primary sources of understanding.
Complexity increased significantly during the Renaissance and Enlightenment, when scientific inquiry gradually began to emerge as a source of truth and validation. Observation and experimentation steadily replaced the religious notion of sacrifice and prayer.
Albeit, religious belief did not degrade into some primitive source of wishful thinking, but rather was allocated to those who perceived it as the source of all things. Likewise, science developed into its own system of epistemology, whereby individuals and groups could derive meaning, value, and relatedness. Both systems are now major epistemic foundations from which systems of belief originate and evolve.
Humanity now possesses a diverse range of belief systems to choose from that help provide sustenance to one’s life. Each belief system represents an interpretation of whatever epistemic truths either or both systems of religion and science have to offer. These interpretive frames of reference allow an individual to find what appears to be true—and it is this perceived truth that provides that individual with a means of categorizing themselves, others, and the world around them.
Thus, they are frames of reference that help form perception into coherent and relatable sets of propositional predictions. Every interaction with the world is a set of propositional predictions that are nested inside one’s belief frame of reference. These predictions can sometimes be accurate, while other times they may be inaccurate.
The degree of one’s devotion to a belief system will determine whether an inaccurate prediction provides the necessary information for revision. It is at this moment that an individual can benefit themselves and others by acknowledging the inaccuracy of the predictive belief reference. If acknowledged, accommodations to the belief propositions must follow.
These accommodations, therefore, represent the evolution of the Self toward a more sustainable existence, mirroring the collective’s attempts throughout the millennia preceding one’s existence. This act could be understood as hypothesis reformulation in scientific terms, and enlightenment or transfiguration in religious terms. Through this process, one organizes the psyche in a manner that reflects coherence and reality as such. Thus, the development of the Self is not merely dependent upon the coherence of one’s belief structure, but upon its capacity to accommodate and reorganize itself in accordance with an evolving understanding of reality.
