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Journal nizo's Journal: Quick poll: Steadfast beliefs or question everything? 36

Journal by nizo

I believe:
1 - I have a core set of beliefs that will never change.
2 ------------------------------------
3 - Some will change, some won't.
4 ------------------------------------
5 - Question everything; someday I will most likely be a completely different person.

(2 and 4 are reserved for somewhere in between 1 and 3 or 3 and 5 respectively)

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Quick poll: Steadfast beliefs or question everything? More

Quick poll: Steadfast beliefs or question everything?

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  • 3/4 (Score:2)

    by dave-tx ( 684169 ) *
    Maybe 3, maybe 4... I've had a core set of beliefs that I thought would never change, but with age and experience they did. Beliefs that may seem to be set in stone can become fluid over the span of a lifetime.

    • As we get older, I think our tendency to change our beliefs is reduced. One could attribute this to increased stubborness, but (speaking as a slightly older person than most on /., I think) it is also easily attributed to having examined our beliefs and having already changed many of those that needed changing.

      Granted, not everyone gets wiser with age. Some just get older. At 36.3, I'm not sure which group I'm in yet. :P

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by dave-tx ( 684169 ) *

        Pretty insightful comment....from a Wahoo, that is! (just kidding)

        Sounds like we're within months of the same age, and I'd have to agree with you. Most of my belief changes came in my 20's, and recent experiences of mine have only reaffirmed my current stand on issues. On the other hand, my Grandmother has changed some of her political affiliations over the past few years - not so much from a party point of view, but on an individual basis. Not a dramatic swing, but at least she's got the ability to be

  • I tend to have very strong, steadfast beliefs, but am willing to question them if provided sufficient continuing evidence that they're wrong. It's probably my Quaker and scientific background. But I don't believe my beliefs should be pushed onto others, or that having different beliefs is wrong somehow - ok, except for the Red Commies in the Red House like Bush and Cheney. They're apostate fanatics who hate America.

    Anyone else watching the BBC movie about Bush being assassinated?
  • Or actually core set of facts since I dont have to "believe".

    No particular order:

    Murphy's law wins--always.
    Hell is other people.
    The only thing certain is death, taxes, and uncertainty.

    "I can live with doubt and uncertainty and not knowing. I think it is much more interesting to live not knowing than to have answers that might be wrong" (R P Feynman)
  • Comment removed based on user account deletion

  • There are some things I don't think I'll ever think about differently (stupidity, intolerance, racism), but there are plenty of things that might change over time. We're all in a constant state of learning; as we learn, we grow and are able to look more critically at what we believe. I think being somehwere in the middle makes for the wisest course of action -- you have to be a person of principle and belief, but you also have to acknowledge that facts invariably change as more as learned, and opinions base

    • There are some things I don't think I'll ever think about differently (stupidity, intolerance, racism), but...

      Try spending some time with people who have significant mental impairments. That might change how you think about stupidity. For one thing, it makes you realize that despite all of the nice idea of "equal at birth", that's only true about our rights (and even then, only as an ideal). Some people are genuinely less blessed than others when it comes to intelligence. Of course, some people are just i

      • Try spending some time with people who have significant mental impairments.

        I worked with the autistic and developmentally disabled for 8 years before switching to IT -- when I speak of stupidity, I don't include those who had the misfortunate of being born with a developmental disability, though I'll tell anyone who listens that many autistic individuals are much smarter than your average human, they just have trouble with social skills and the progress of their mental development of higher functions.

        • My wife currently works with children who have autism. Consequently, I've spent a fair amount of time around them as well (volunteering when they need some extra hands).

          I guess part of what that experience has taught me is to realize that we all have our own "disorders" of various types and degrees. I try (and frequently fail) not to judge someone else too harshly because at least part of who they are is dictated by their genes and experiences. I won't get into the whole free will thing here, but even if

  • I think my principles won't change. The information that I currently believe to be facts certainly may change, and it is a certainty the some of it will change.

    I question data constantly, but my philosophy is pretty thoroughly hammered out.
  • A perfect being might get 5. :-)
  • I believe... I will have a beer.

    Actually, I try not to BELIEVE in anything at all. 'Belief' implies lack of true knowledge, and are usually surrounded by myths and such.

    For example, I know for a fact that there is a force in the universe that causes things to grow and overcome entropy. Or for example, I know that I derive great satisfaction from doing good things. Why is that? Or that a great piece of music can cause ecstacy. Again, what's up with that?

    I may tack on various labels to these forces, but

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by nizo ( 81281 ) *
      'The Truth' only POINTS to that which is real, it is not the reality itself.


      Interesting; I will have to ponder this.

    • I believe... I will have a beer.

      But that is a belief.

      You're believing a number of things there:

      1. There is more beer.

      2. Noone else drank it

      3. You will be able to drink it.

      4. That you will decide to drink it (the phone might ring, for example).

      5. That you will drink the whole beer.

      Yes, experience may show that there probably is a beer, and you probably will drink it, but just because you've been able to drink it up until now doesn't mean that:

      a. Aliens won't arrive and arrest you for drinking holy water; or

      b

      • It's a belief. Once you've completed drinking the beer, it will be a fact.

        I believe it will be a fact. Of course, it is also possible that you could have imagined it, or that those aforementioned aliens brainwashed you into thinking you drank it. Or that, in fact (ala Matrix), there is no beer. There are facts and there are beliefs. Unfortunately, we cannot truly know the facts. Or, so I believe.

        When people speak of "knowing" things, what they mean is that they *think* they have moved that belief from i

  • 1 and 5. Or being a bit less extreme, perhaps 2 and 4. That is, I question everything. But Ihave a core set of beliefs that I don't expect to change, and I certainly don't expect to become a different person. I accept that I may change my views if the answers to my questions aren't the ones I expect. But I think that pretty unlikely at this stage...
  • I'm an open-minded person, but over the years I've found a consistent approach to life that I don't expect to change much. Part of that approach is being flexible and adaptable to different situations, but there are some things that I simply will never comprimise on:

    1) I hate mustard. Always have.
    2) Notre Dame is the mustard of college football.
    3) Diversity is preferable to homogeneity (not merely of race or gender, but of personality, background, etc.)
    4) We Americans work too damn much.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by nizo ( 81281 ) *
      I hate mustard.

      Me too. Urggghhh it tastes horrid. And the color: bleh.

      We Americans work too damn much.

      Yeah ain't that the truth. I have over three weeks of leave that I am slowly burning off (just so I don't lose more as it accumulates); I wish I could take it in larger chunks :-| Oh and I agree on the diversity thing; if for no other reason than a quick gander at the past shows that diversity = survival. But the fact that it makes life more interesting is good too :-)

  • The best way to put it is simply: I know what I believe and why, I know what I DON'T believe and why, and I know that I don't know everything.

  • Hm (Score:2)

    by turg ( 19864 ) *
    I don't think that #1 and #5 are mutually exclusive.
  • 10: Beliefs are what we create in order to define a seperate identity of our own, or to serve some perceived (believed!) need, and truly conscious people create their own beliefs to learn more about creating. Other choices involve accepting beliefs others have espoused and rationalizing those acceptances. The rest is a matter of how deeply we buy into the beliefs we choose, how we believe we should act based on those choices, and how we actually act based on some mixture of what we profess to believe and w
  • There's so much stuff I just assume is true but never think about. But each time I think about them, I start questioning whether what I've always assumed to be true really is> the truth.
  • Most things will change. Many by next week. Most by the week after that.

    I am perpetually realizing that the "I" of two weeks ago is an ignorant goof.
  • the problem is that the poll basically says questioning beliefs will change them. i am probably a 3 or 4 on questioning, but i have no way of knowing how questioning will change what i believe. my beliefs are more frequently refined through my questioning, but every once in a while something big is changed. to me, beliefs are more like a set of blocks for little kids. there are ones on the bottom that aren't easy to change without upsetting all of the blocks resting on top of them; there are blocks on t
  • I believe most definitely in certain things. Others I allow questioning in and am willing to hear people's opinions.
  • I've found that it is necessary to have some sort of belief, right or wrong. So I don't necessarily question everything. For example, it is easier to get on with life if you believe you exist and that the basic rules of reality and physics accepted by the grand majority apply to you. Questioning existence and reality makes for interesting philosophy, a variety of sci-fi/fantasy, and lousy living.

    That said, I do question just about anything of my beliefs that there is not obvious agreement on. I find it

  • ("5 - Question everything; someday I will most likely be a completely different person."

    From a personal perspective, that's certainly true. (sigh)

    However, I think that even people who don't share my situation should adopt such an attitude - curiosity is healthy (unless you're a cat), and educational.

    Just look at the changes in the world in the last decade ... how can anyone NOT be questioning things they used to believe.

  • Question everything, and someday I might become the person I claim to be.
  • I try to question everything, especially my core values.

    But my core values are very important to me.

    But you never can tell how things work out. I know people who have had a stroke or a head injury, and they become a completely different person. I am guessing this isn't the sort of thing you were asking about but you have to consider that shit happens, some physical, some mental, some emotional.

    And there is the general human tendancy to become more "conservative" for lack of a better term. By that I mean the
  • i'm a unitarian universalist, so... 5. i expect that there are some beliefs that will never change, but that doesnt' mean i won't question them. the minute you stop questioning you start dying.
  • i have a set of core beliefs i will continue to cling to, even given the proof that they are certainly wrong.

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