by Jay O'Toole

Created on: January 05, 2011

In contemporary society, it is common to hear some form of the concept, "I only believe something, if I can prove."

This seems reasonable and logical, given the innate human need for significance.  After all, who wants to look foolish...on purpose?

This does indeed appear to be one of life's highest motivating factors today, the fear of failure.  

Were fear of failure to be imagined as a country on the map, then fear of belief would be its equivalent to The Big Apple of New York City.

Is belief merely a thing of the past on Planet Earth?

Is belief completely incompatible with the study of science?

Is belief an innate part of the human psyche, or is belief merely a coping-mechanism that has evolved to help humans feel protected?

Is belief synonymous with faith?

Let's tackle the last question, first.  IS belief synonymous with faith?

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/faith

Faith is "...confidence...trust in a person...thing, belief...not based on proof, belief in god or in the...teachings of religion, belief in anything, a system of religious belief, the obligation of loyalty or fidelity to a person, promise,engagement, etc..."

In short, faith could be summarized as "choosing to invest unproven confidence in someone or something, outside of oneself, based solely on an apparently-observable track record of trustworthiness that is used to validate the expenditure of such confidence in lieu of certifiable scientific evidence."

So said, faith arguably requires not less thought than scientific evidence, but more.  Faith requires meditation over the perceived-character of the subject upon whom or upon which one is considering the investment of one soul's most valuable of commodities, TRUST.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/belief

Belief is "...something believed; an opinion or conviction; confidence in the truth or existence of something not immediately susceptible to rigorous proof; confidence; faith; trust; a religious tenet or...creed..."  (During the origination process [16th-century,] belief became known as "mental acceptance of something as true,...")

In short, belief could be summarized as "choosing to invest unproven confidence in someone or something, outside

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