The Nature of Belief

There are those whose attraction to science is its apparent (but not real) void of belief.  That is to say, that some look at science and believe that science requires no beliefs, and, thus, that is it superior to systems of thought that require belief.  These souls, unfortunately, have not examined the matter thoroughly enough.  The so-called hidden assumptions that I have already outlined (and there are more that I have yet to mention) are just such beliefs. 

The beliefs of an adherent of science who claims its superiority typically include the following:
1. That the ability to repeat an experiment and get the same result gives the result more validity than a result that cannot be reproduced in this manner.
2. That one can measure something independently of oneself.
3.  That rational thinking is superior to other types of thinking.

But, now, I ask...are these facts?  Can they be proven?  Can we do controlled, scientific experiments to demonstrate their validity?  The answer is quite obviously no.  If you do not see that the answer is no, meditate further upon these ideas.  Eventually it becomes clear that they cannot be tested scientifically.  They are, ultimately, opinions (i.e., beliefs).  That they are beliefs does not reduce their validity (or enhance it, either), but it does put the lie to the notion that science is a system of thought without belief. 

We all believe something, even if we fancy that we do not believe in anything.  In mathematics, a favorite problem is to prove a mathematical statement using as few postulates (i.e., assumptions a.k.a. beliefs) as possible.  Ideally, nothing would be assumed.  Try this exercise with anything in your personal life, and you will quickly find that it becomes very difficult to function as a human being (nay, impossible) without believing something.  However, this revelation requires critical examination of one's own thoughts.  If you say "I do not believe in anything", you are wrong, because you believe that you do not believe in anything.  Critical examination of your thoughts will eventually reveal to you that you do believe in something and, eventually, what those beliefs are. 

Science, dear readers, is not superior to any other system of thought.  It is a highly useful and beautiful system of thought with marvelous outcomes (some of which we could do without), but it is not superior.  While it may be more sober than religious thought, for example, it is no better.  It is different, and, of course, religious thought is no better than science, either. 

Ultimately, the best thoughts are those that make you feel good and are in harmony with your own being.  Some scientific thoughts will fall into this category and some will not.

Most importantly, the danger is that when you believe in the superiority of any system of thought, you run the risk of diminishing your own intuition, which is the most true thought there is (for you). 

More hidden assumptions coming up.