Should we believe things simply because they make us feel good, even if we have no evidence for them?
Why or why not?
Why or why not?
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Is Feeling Good a Valid Reason to Believe?
- Thread starter Left Coast
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Hellbound Serpiente
Active Member
Not at all. In fact, our criteria should be the opposite, actually. There's a nature of truth and falsehood, and we should keep it in mind. Falsehood actually appears to be pleasant, but it ends in bitterness. Truth, on the other hand, usually appears to be bitter, but it results in pleasant end.
This is the reason why, as Arthur Schopenhauer said ---
“All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.”
It is because truth conflicts with their vested interests, and it doesn't make them feel good, do people ridicule and violently opposed it. While falsehood, on the other hand, doesn't conflict with their vested interests and ego, and appeals to their greed, arrogance and such things, it makes them feel good.
I feel like feeling good should be a valid reason to NOT believe.
This is the reason why, as Arthur Schopenhauer said ---
“All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.”
It is because truth conflicts with their vested interests, and it doesn't make them feel good, do people ridicule and violently opposed it. While falsehood, on the other hand, doesn't conflict with their vested interests and ego, and appeals to their greed, arrogance and such things, it makes them feel good.
I feel like feeling good should be a valid reason to NOT believe.
Twilight Hue
Twilight, not bright nor dark, good nor bad.
Well one can't argue if something actually makes you feel good. However blind faith can set up one for a fall.
It depends on if you need to feel good in order to function. I think if you can't function then you need somewhere to begin. Outside of that I don't think feeling good is enough of a reason, and nobody can feel good all the time. Its not healthy to.
stvdv
Veteran Member: I Share (not Debate) my POV
Feeling good is one type of feeling. Feeling right is another type of feeling.
Eating ice cream feels good. But eating it 24/7 is not feeling right, even though it feels good
IF it feels right, according to my conscience THEN I need not have other evidence, as I trust my conscience
This is a useful point, Brick, thank you. If your belief is so important to you that you can't function without it, even if its a baseless belief I'd rather you be a functional adult with blind faith than an incapacitated one without it. I suspect, though, that many people who hold such dear beliefs underestimate their ability to live without the belief. Humans are remarkably resilient and adaptive.
That's an interesting distinction. By "right" do you mean "correct?"
Heyo
Veteran Member
A valid reason - no. But who needs a reason to feel good? Go for it as long as you don't put yourself or others into danger.
PureX
Veteran Member
If believing "X" to be true in spite of having no conclusive evidence to support that belief increases the value of our experience of being, and/or the value of the experience of being of those we interact with, then 'yes', it is a net positive choice to believe.
Unveiled Artist
Veteran Member
Yes. If it doesn't harm others and self, why not?
ppp
Well-Known Member
Believing things that make us feel good includes, but is not limited to, falsely believing that the any given thing that makes us feel good does not harm others.
QuestioningMind
Well-Known Member
Absolutely not! There are plenty of Trump supporters who 'feel good' believing that Trump won the election and if enough of them succumb to such delusional thinking, it will destroy this nation.
Unveiled Artist
Veteran Member
Well, if someone feels bad that doesn't help because they can still harm others or themselves based on their feelings.
But I see no reason to downplay feeling good about a belief... and even if one has evidence, that doesn't exclude him or her from harming others or self. So, it's less about evidence vs feel good and more about morals and behaviors.
stvdv
Veteran Member: I Share (not Debate) my POV
Yes ... "Dharmic action" would be the best term. Righteous (appropriate) action would be the closest English translation IMO
Note: Dharmic action (no judgment). It is just what it is (you step on a banana peel and fall on the ground; no judgment, just action/reaction)
Note: Dharmic action differs per person (Dharma of a Brahmin (priest) does not include killing humans; Dharma Kshatriya (warrior) includes killing)
Trailblazer
Veteran Member
I do not think we should ever believe anything unless we have evidence, and that applies more to religion than anything else, given what hangs in the balance.
74x12
Well-Known Member
No ... we should believe the truth.
Trailblazer
Veteran Member
Why not? Because if we believe something that is false we will never know what is true.
ppp
Well-Known Member
I am not sure what this is trying to say.
We are not talking about up playing or down playing. You said that there is nothing wrong with believeing X is it makes you feel good. Yet believing X could (and in reality does) include believing that harmful things are true because they make the believer feel good. And the believer acts on those beliefs to the detriment of others. The point being that there are real tangible things wrong with believing X because it makes you feel good..
Unveiled Artist
Veteran Member
But why does it matter if it's false or not?
Religion doesn't need to be true or fact in order for it to have value. I'm sure a lot of religious believe false belief(s) but not all religious see that as a barrier and most likely secondary to their actual experiences and interpretations of them.