What happens if all what you believe in is false?

[Free_Patriot]

We all know that social values, moral standards, beliefs and faiths, all give us a sense of security that gets stronger with the strength of our beliefs and our certainty beyond any reasonable doubt that what we believe in is true.
Don't you agree that when we start questioning our beliefs we start becoming insecure and slowing un-happy and confused?
What do you think will happen if you realize that all what you believed in all your life is false? Do you think that's possible that it happens to you? and why?

Thank for your contribution to this thread.

[terror]

It already happened to me, and its effect was limited. That's probably because I was very young, and because it happened gradually.

I guess it's most devastating when it comes at a late age. That might either lead to destructive nihilism, or depression. Check Tolstoy's "A Confession." I actually haven't read it, but I know it talks about the author realizing that his whole life was meaningless, because he had lived it adhering to what could've been lies (mainly religion).

All we have to do is reverse what is said in my avatar. Think. Don't believe.
But if you insist on believing, don't think, ever...

[Stella]

Originally Posted by terror

All we have to do is reverse what is said in my avatar. Think. Don't believe.
But if you insist on believing, don't think, ever...

I still can just say, that these two are not excluding each others, why not both?.

[terror]

Originally Posted by Stella23

I still can just say, that these two are not excluding each others, why not both?.

Because having faith in something means believing in it without proof. Believing in something without proof means there's always a chance that further thinking might lead to doubt.

So to avoid Tolstoy's midlife crisis, just choose one of the two and stick to it.

[mephisto794]

true or false is a very relative, subjective concept.
What you believe is true can be OBVIOUSLY false in the eyes of another person...
after a period of time, you might be seing it false.

It is all about where you place yourself in face to the 'hypothese'....

So there is nothing absolutely true, nor absolutely false....

[lebanese_a]

Originally Posted by Free_Patriot

What do you think will happen if you realize that all what you believed in all your life is false? Do you think that's possible that it happens to you? and why?

Happened to me (not all I beleive is false but a part of it) twice, The first time I couldn't let go of my belief, I felt somethingwas wrong and I felt a little unsecure but you get used to it with time. The second time it was easier (not the same subject) I just really thought of it for a couple of days and then just stoped believing in this.
Uno its like quitting smoking, U can do it bi fard marra or do it gradually.

Anyway I think you have this problem if you are asking the quetion, Just think of it a lot and then decide, this way you will be sure you made the right choice.

[Stella]

Originally Posted by terror

Because having faith in something means believing in it without proof. Believing in something without proof means there's always a chance that further thinking might lead to doubt.

So to avoid Tolstoy's midlife crisis, just choose one of the two and stick to it.

I dont see why we couldnt manage it both, believing and thinking at the same time, we dont have to chose one of them. By believing only one can not comprehend or solve the problems of course, just as by thinking only one can not see life in its full complexity.

One of my old signos came into my mind: Credendo Vides - by believing one sees.

[I_Am_LebanoN]

Originally Posted by Free_Patriot

We all know that social values, moral standards, beliefs and faiths, all give us a sense of security that gets stronger with the strength of our beliefs and our certainty beyond any reasonable doubt that what we believe in is true.
Don't you agree that when we start questioning our beliefs we start becoming insecure and slowing un-happy and confused?
What do you think will happen if you realize that all what you believed in all your life is false? Do you think that's possible that it happens to you? and why?

Thank for your contribution to this thread.

a couple years ago, i realised all what i bieleved in is false(mostly religion), i had a very depressing week, but after that i became better than ever, thinking and not bieleving (as terror mentioned) and always being sure my bielevs cannot be questionned.

Free_Patriot, don't live in a lie, if your bielefs are questinable, the hell with them, and always question your convictions, and only be convinced by what your mind cannot questionned

[TonyFPM]

I like so much this poem for Rudyard Kipling. It's very true but very hard in the same time. It will give you answers but no easy solutions.

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
But make allowance for their doubting too,
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:


If you can dream--and not make dreams your master,
If you can think--and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:


If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"


If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings--nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much,
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And--which is more--you'll be a Man, my son!


--Rudyard Kipling

[Free_Patriot]

Terror and Stella, some people think about certain subjects but refrain from thinking about others and just believe, such as, religion. In that case, the person would be doing both, thinking, and, believing. But it’s not that simple because those who think are used to questioning, researching, and studying. It’s not easy for them to block their minds on certain topics… and why would they?

Originally Posted by lebanese_a

Anyway I think you have this problem if you are asking the quetion, Just think of it a lot and then decide, this way you will be sure you made the right choice.

Thanks for the advice but no I am not having this problem, this topic is not about my personal experience; it’s about someone else. I personally never really believed in anything, maybe that’s why I am lost. I cannot associate meanings and outcomes to every process in my life. But my question is for those who have beliefs and feel very secure and focused based on those beliefs, what kind of shift in life it would be when you realize that those beliefs are not true?

Originally Posted by I_Am_LebanoN

Free_Patriot, don't live in a lie, if your bielefs are questinable, the hell with them, and always question your convictions, and only be convinced by what your mind cannot questionned

Yes it’s true, but what about the things that you need to be convinced of in order to function normally and be productive in life but yet you can’t? For example, why should a person believe that it’s necessary to have kids? No one could convince me that it’s a necessity (This is just an example and not the subject). I personally question everything… why wouldn’t I?

Now, many of you think about religion when it comes to this topic. It's not necessarily religion, what about when you really believe in your dreams and later you realize you cannot achieve them maybe because they depend on someone else? or when you believe in an idea and you realize it's just a myth?