Following my recent blogs on disbelief and false beliefs, I was a bit puzzled. How do these topics interact with my concept of the 7 Belief systems and unbelief, another related word?
Unbeliever is often a swear word for (religious) people who do not believe in a certain type of religion. In principle, an unbeliever should be someone who relies on facts rather than “believe”.
Preparing a diagram for these 4 types of belief wasn’t easy. Ultimately, I once again borrowed the risk management terms of Nassim Nicholas Taleb: (un)known (un)knowns.
Remarkably, this diagram is almost a copy of the left-upper corner of my 2017 diagram in the 4 levels of consciousness: facts, beliefs, intuition, and imagination.
Apparently, the 4 types of belief match the 4 types of our conscious mind, which is hardly a surprise once you give it a 2nd or 3rd thought.
Scientists are often in the left-upper corner. Futurism-2018: “It’s no secret that Neil deGrasse Tyson has strong feelings when it comes to the intersection of science and belief. Science, he says, is objective. It’s not something that you believe or do not believe; it’s something that you accept or don’t accept. It remains true regardless of your personal beliefs.”
I suppose most people would not regard themselves as unbelievers, regardless of the religious connotation. Ultimately, everybody needs something to believe in (my recent blog). Scientific research even indicates that we distrust people who claim not to believe (my 2016 blog).
For human beings, believing appears to be the default. Disbelief, false beliefs and unbelief appear to be a minority view amongst humans. The 7 Belief systems (Love, Money, Philosophy, Politics, Religion, Science and the Truth) represent the majority amongst humans.
The red line representing the “direction of time” is worrisome to me. The same “direction of time” was visible in my 2018 blog on Disbelief and the 7 Belief systems: from factual history, to legends, to myths, and ending at fake news. I’m inclined to believe that this cycle may relate to the Strauss-Howe generational cycle. Please see my recent blog on Enlightenment vs False Beliefs.
“Everybody’s got to believe in something. I believe I’ll have another beer.” A quote by W.C. Fields (1880-1946), American comedian.
Something to Believe In (1987) by Clannad featuring Bruce Hornsby
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