Thread: If You Believe In Something

This is the title of my book in progress. It is essentially a proclamation to all who see that beliefs impact their life regularly.
It covers where beliefs originated, their impact on society, where these beliefs may lead us, and if we were to unify all these beliefs where it would go.
However, I would like to hear from many different people a few beliefs they consider to be the biggest impact on society (i.e. politics, religion, morality). This would assure me that I don't miss any major topics.

It might be interesting to research what percentage of the population profess to have no beliefs whatsoever, and why, and include that information in the book.

Originally Posted by The Backward OX

It might be interesting to research what percentage of the population profess to have no beliefs whatsoever, and why, and include that information in the book.

Do you happen to know any good websites for data like that (relative to the U.S.)?

No, I don't, sorry. However you might do better to search out a philosophy or personal development forum and post your queries there. It's just you may find larger numbers of interested readers on sites like that than you will here.

Originally Posted by The Backward OX

It might be interesting to research what percentage of the population profess to have no beliefs whatsoever, and why, and include that information in the book.

This'd be more interesting, in my opinion.

Is it even possible to have no beliefs? Sure, there are atheists who don't believe in religion; there are people who don't follow politics and don't vote; and there are sociopaths who don't believe in conventional morality. But do any of these groups believe in nothing? Even sociopaths have a belief system: they believe in doing what's good for them, and only them. It's a belief though.

If Theusedfire5 writes a book about people who profess to believe in nothing, I'll bet the stories will end up showing how these people are deluding themselves, and actually believe in something. If he writes the book as a series of such case studies, it might be interesting.

Originally Posted by garnerdavis

Is it even possible to have no beliefs? Sure, there are atheists who don't believe in religion; there are people who don't follow politics and don't vote; and there are sociopaths who don't believe in conventional morality. But do any of these groups believe in nothing? Even sociopaths have a belief system: they believe in doing what's good for them, and only them. It's a belief though.

If Theusedfire5 writes a book about people who profess to believe in nothing, I'll bet the stories will end up showing how these people are deluding themselves, and actually believe in something. If he writes the book as a series of such case studies, it might be interesting.

You're spot on. Each person is biased to some degree. However, the purpose of my writing is not towards a series, but a proclamation of how we could unify our different beliefs and accelerate our innovating.
I mean atheists for example, may not believe in a deity, but many of them are very strong believers in secularism and the innovation of science.

Although, the idea of people not believing something will be covered briefly for each belief I end up covering; especially in regards to pseudo-intellectuals.

I enjoyed this comment a lot, it definitely made me think of a few things I hadn't before so thank you.

Originally Posted by TheFuhrer02

This'd be more interesting, in my opinion.

This will be something I research heavily on in regards to my book. I've always enjoyed knowing exact details for topics for the sake of using that same data for future uses.

Are there any preferable areas you enjoy seeing data for most (i.e. who believes what, how many people have altered their beliefs, etc)?

Originally Posted by garnerdavis

Is it even possible to have no beliefs? Sure, there are atheists who don't believe in religion; there are people who don't follow politics and don't vote; and there are sociopaths who don't believe in conventional morality. But do any of these groups believe in nothing? Even sociopaths have a belief system: they believe in doing what's good for them, and only them. It's a belief though.

You hit it just right. You simply can't have zero beliefs.

I think the closest to a zero belief was in The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, with the Universe controller, the old man living in a shack.

Originally Posted by Robert_S

You hit it just right. You simply can't have zero beliefs.

I think the closest to a zero belief was in The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, with the Universe controller, the old man living in a shack.

This made me LOL.

Interesting idea for a book. I always thought 'The Wicker Man' was about belief and the dangers of belief, especially religious belief. You could also include issues of faith and how faith is represented at various levels. Like: I have faith that today I will be able to get to work on time, to the extreme: I have faith that there is one true god. There is also supposed to be two definitions of belief. 1 - Belief based on proof and belief based on faith.

Originally Posted by Robdemanc

Interesting idea for a book. I always thought 'The Wicker Man' was about belief and the dangers of belief, especially religious belief. You could also include issues of faith and how faith is represented at various levels. Like: I have faith that today I will be able to get to work on time, to the extreme: I have faith that there is one true god. There is also supposed to be two definitions of belief. 1 - Belief based on proof and belief based on faith.

Great idea!

As a guy who's spent a little bit of time just looking over paradigms and whatnot, what strikes me most is the lack of knowledge most people have about their own beliefs. You wouldn't believe how easy it is to pick apart Catholocism with nothing more than a bible, or naturalism with nothing more than my mind and a bit of spare time. Yet those systems are the metaphysical dwelling places of millions, if not billions of people.

Anyway though, might I just say that disbelief is arguably the dominant belief of the world. We're growing every day a more cynical species.

Hmmmm very interesting idea. Are you planning to write an unbiased book or are you beginning with your own beliefs?

Originally Posted by theusedfire5

... and if we were to unify all these beliefs where it would go ... (i.e. politics, religion, morality).

Now there is a scary thought.
I think one of the best things about having free will is the ability to choose what to believe and change those beliefs as experience allows us to grow.
Everyone sharing the same beliefs in religion, politics, etc would narrow our views and I can't see any good coming from that.
In this area, difference is a good thing.