The best insight into faith I’ve ever heard came from Dave Grohl, of all people.
Most people think faith is about religion. This isn’t true. Faith is believing in something despite the absence of evidence. Dave Grohl from the Foo Fighters is not religious to my knowledge, but he explains in his autobiography that as a kid, he held an irrational belief that he would be a successful drummer. That irrational belief never went away.
Dave Grohl had no reason and no evidence as a kid that he would be a successful drummer. But he still believed it. Eventually he became a world-famous drummer. Did believing he would be famous manifest something for him? Was it a prophecy only he could see? Did he just believe in something that happened to turn out to be true? I don’t know. But I do know that this is faith.
Although faith closes off some possibilities, it delivers real benefits too. Someone who believes in a religion’s mythology, despite any evidence, gets the full benefits of that religion – participation, a worldview, a reality tunnel that is typically tested and works.
What current science tells us, and what this has had to do with faith
Given current scientific understanding, we don’t know if we are capable of apprehending base reality. We don’t even know if we can only comprehend the limits of our psychology. Plus, there is a logical danger of filling in with the meaning of the universe with unearned positive claims. So does it make sense to have faith?
Yes, if you want to. You can simply say “I have faith but I don’t know.” That is intellectually honest.
Obviously, there is real danger in having faith in something bad for you. So be careful of salespeople and people who tell you what to believe. Tell them to wait while you do your own research and make your own decision, if you choose to make that leap of faith. You can definitely put your faith in the wrong things. So if you decide to have faith, make sure it is your decision.
Use this statement: “The truthful claim is that we don’t know the truth about XX for certain. But given that, I choose to believe Belief X because WHY.”
This gets you the benefits of faith, while still allowing you to stay tolerant of other opinions.
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