by Bill Cottringer

“Beliefs are choices. First you choose your beliefs. Then your beliefs affect your choices.” ~Roy T. Bennett.

     Beliefs rule the world, but do we really understand the many problems that beliefs come with and also cause when they are acted on? Consider some annoying facts that get in the way of believing that your beliefs are sound and why you should consider checking them at the door, along with your ego, before meetings or discussions with anyone but your family or best friends. This is especially true of political or religious beliefs.

A Double-Edged Sword

     There is one good thing about beliefs. They help you focus on choosing something you believe to have enough value to support and act on, but without any certainty of the consequences for doing so. On the flip side, there is one main bad thing about beliefs. They keep you from seeing all the other possibilities that may deserve more support and have more value to act on, with better likely consequences.

The True Nature of Beliefs

     Consider some characteristics of beliefs that can get in the way of facts that may be better to know than not:

·        Beliefs are the brain’s lazy short cuts.  Much of life is often overly complex, chaotic and complicated, especially in the VUCA world we live in today.  So, we need a way to simply all this messy complexity so we can be assured that we have a reliable way to understand, predict and control life easier and quicker to be happier and more successful.

·        We reduce a virtually infinite series of facts into a simpler template that we can use to cut to the chase in our own thinking and discussions with others--without needing days and weeks and a library of books to explain the hidden details of what we believe in.

·        Beliefs are often how we explain the unexplainable, fill in the blanks, invent cause and effect relationships that don’t really exist, or connect the dots between unrelated things. This is a matter of expediency and convenience though, because we just don’t have enough time. 

·        Seeing is Believing. Yes, this seems to be the case, but then again there are optical illusions that can convince you that you are seeing movement and color when none is there (Just Google “best optical illusions).

·        We tend to believe by assumption that our beliefs are rational, based on real experiences, true , defendable, and provable, although none of this is required.

·        Most beliefs are much more emotional than rational and that is why we can’t argue with someone having a certain belief different than our own, as strong feelings protect the belief, which are not accessible by rational thought.

·        Beliefs can never fully capture the essence of what is being believed, only a fraction of semblance at best.

·        They only represent hope for something to be true , that really can’t be verified.

Other Problems with Beliefs

     Like any other plausible solutions to problems, some beliefs bring even greater, unexpected problems. Here are a few such problems with beliefs:

·        By only representing hope for something to be true , once they are found to be false, false hope can still linger past its shelf-life expiration.

·        They are more opinion than fact and many opinions just aren’t worth the time and effort to maintain them, while so many other things are more worthy.

·        They often do more destruction than good, especially with the wrong reason or wrong delivery method.

·        They are only as true as how strongly you feel they are and although feelings can change, beliefs often don’t.

·        Wrong ones usually lead to more problems, like high tariffs bringing higher inflation, or inefficiency reductions of government agencies resulting in even less efficiency.

·        They are much more related to a person’s personality from genetics, family upbringing, or social conditioning, than being any reliable measure of the truth.

·        Wrong beliefs seem to be impervious to changing, even when there is compelling evidence to dispute the truth of the belief.

·        We often argue most fiercely to defend the beliefs which we are least informed about.

·        One dangerous assumption behind most beliefs is in the amount of trust we give to the validity of the source of the authority driving the belief.

Choose your beliefs carefully but don’t be afraid to let go of them when they no longer have a useful purpose. And in the meantime, collect and keep the compelling convictions that are worth fighting for. ~The author.