Is it possible for a person to have no beliefs at all?

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Type: Question • Score: 14 • Views: 16,380 • Replies: 293

[+4] - edgarblythe - 04/17/2012This "We can't know" is bullshit. It is so obviously contrived. I don't look down on one for disagreeing with me, but I have to assert my view from time to time.
[+4] - Setanta - 04/19/2012[b]Is it possible for a person to have no beliefs at all?[/b] No.
[+4] - Setanta - 04/19/2012It would not necessarily be error--there could be other reasons. However, the point you are attempting to squirm away from is that none of us know to a certainty everything necessary to prosecute...
[+3] - Frank Apisa - 04/16/2012[quote]We all have our balmy ego committee members. The trick is stop them being persistent chairman ![/quote] Something you ought to master, Fresco. Because what we have here is me saying...
[+3] - Cyracuz - 04/19/2012It doesn't matter which words are used. A belief, an assumption, wild guess... it don't matter. The point is that it is impossible to have knowledge about everything we need to relate to, which...
[+3] - Lustig Andrei - 04/19/2012Here we go again. Arguments about the most [i]precise[/i] definition of certain words. So, how many angels [i]can[/i] dance on the point of a pin? I gather that y'all have already stated your...
[+3] - FOUND SOUL - 04/19/2012[quote]It is just a 'word' [/quote] [quote]You also go on to conclude that because of this definition 'it' is thereby not a word. [/quote] That's right.. It's more than a "word" to me....
[+3] - cicerone imposter - 04/20/2012With good doctors to advise and treat me, I am now in remission. Since I was a grade 4 (Gleason score), I chose radiation treatment. I have other minor health issues with the treatment, but...

@Philippos,

I believe the answer is "no".

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@Philippos,

Yes. They're called zombies.

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I tried to give up all beliefs, to be a total sceptic, but I soon discovered that I had no control of unconscious beliefs.

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@Philippos,

As I see it believing is part of the cognitive process...belief is that which arises when you need to decide yourself upon any matter upon which you already problematize up to a certain point...from there on you start believing you reach a conclusion...not reaching conclusions is Darwinianly speaking bad for health...imagine what would have happen in ancient times if someone on a quick look thought they saw a lion in the distance and well because they weren't certain they would n 't start running...exactly extinction !

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@Fil Albuquerque,

... there is a balance between focusing analysing and reasoning and having quick instinctive decision making...although the impulse for resolution is the evolutionary basis for belief its role can have a wider scope...some people rely more on belief normally because reason don´t get them to far...simple, culturally familiar, and metaphorical explanations are easier to digest and grasp while all the way they still give you some sense of direction towards an understanding...but the principle holds true even for clever people...we all have a point beyond which our reason can´t see no further...my understanding places the origin of belief right there, in that point on which we intellectually get into a dead end...

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@Philippos,

It is impossible to have no beliefs at all. There are so many fundamental questions to which we have no answer that we are forced to form beliefs. Many beliefs, as JLN suggests, we are not even aware of. Others we think of as fact, but when we analyze them we realize they are merely beliefs.

An example is the idea that consciousness evolved from an unconscious, physical world. Most think of this as fact, but in reality it is a belief, an axiom that underlies a lot of modern science. It is an idea considered to be self evident and impossible to doubt. Today we are learning otherwise.

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@Philippos,

You wrote this a few days ago:

Quote:

If I ever show my face at this place again, please post something on this discussion so I can be reminded of the reason why I am leaving without intention of returning.

Did you write that
1. because you did not believe you would carry out your intention.
2. because you suspect that there are different facets of "self" which hold different beliefs.

If the second is the case (and one of my facets believes it is !) then the word "person" is ill advised in your question because it implies a unity where none exists. (Extensive discussion of this point can be found by looking up Gurdjieff).

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@Philippos,

And in connection with point 2. note also that your expression "my face" suggests the ancient Greek persona (actor's mask) from which we get the word "personality".

Just a thought !

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Perhaps the closest one can come to being belief-free is to maintain (as if that were possible) a master-belief that "all" beliefs are false.

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@Philippos,

I would say it's sematically possible. I say that I hold no belief's but merely give things their due credibility. If something is proven, it gains credibility, if something has not been proven then it has no credibility, and if something is proven wrong, it has a sort of negative credibility, it's "in the hole" sort of. That's semantics however, as it could be easily stated that my belief's simply align with how much proof something has.

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@Philippos,

It is absolutely possible to have no beliefs at all.

All you have to do is to be honest.

If you stop calling your guesses about the unknown "beliefs"...you stop having beliefs and start having guesses.

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@Frank Apisa,

Frank Apisa wrote:

It is absolutely possible to have no beliefs at all.

All you have to do is to be honest.

If you stop calling your guesses about the unknown "beliefs"...you stop having beliefs and start having guesses.

yeah...

i just pulled that in order to repost it. That deserves to be read again...

and again

and ... one more time .... just for good measure..

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@Cyracuz,

And we must keep in mind that most of our "beliefs" are identified as "facts". Virtually our entire lifeworld is an ideological construction--I hope I'm not exaggerating your position, Cyracuz.

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@shewolfnm,

Quote:

yeah...

i just pulled that in order to repost it. That deserves to be read again...

and again

and ... one more time .... just for good measure..

Thanks, Shewolf.

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@Frank Apisa,

Well, no. There is a distinction. A belief is a guess upon which one has decided to put their money on, so to speak. One doesn't do that with all of their guesses. One does that, for the most part, with those guesses they hold as beliefs.

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@InfraBlue,

Quote:

Well, no. There is a distinction. A belief is a guess upon which one has decided to put their money on, so to speak.

I said a belief is a guess...you are saying it is a guess.

We are in agreement.

Quote:

One doesn't do that with all of their guesses. One does that, for the most part, with those guesses they hold as beliefs.

If you say so. But whether they bet on them or not...a guess is still a guess.

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@Frank Apisa,

Do these two statements have the exactly the same meaning ?
1. I believe the sun will rise tomorrow.
2. I guess the sun will rise tomorrow.

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@fresco,

Quote:

Do these two statements have the exactly the same meaning ?
1. I believe the sun will rise tomorrow.
2. I guess the sun will rise tomorrow.

All beliefs are guesses. Not all guesses are beliefs.

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@Frank Apisa,

Simplistic claptrap!

You are avoiding answering the question, because it is not in the interests of your self image to acknowledge that there is a usage continuum from "guess" through "belief" to "knowledge" which is graded in terms of "degree of confidence".

In set theoretic terms, the set we call "guesses" intersects the set we call "beliefs" which intersects the set we call knowledge. No set can be said to completely contain the other, and the boundaries of the intersection are always open to contextual variation involving negotiation of confidence levels.

3 Replies

Is it possible for a person to have no beliefs at all?

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