Lack of Belief

[Willamena]

What does it mean to lack belief in a thing?

"To believe" is to have assigned truth to a piece of knowledge you posess. Its antithesis, an assigned falsehood, is "to disbelieve".

Is it possible to lack belief in anything?

Is "lack of belief" to be equated with a "lack of information"?

Is "lack of belief" to be equated with "lacking understanding"?

 

[LuisDantas]

Is it possible to lack belief in anything?

Sure.

Is "lack of belief" to be equated with a "lack of information"?

Not really. Information does not always warrant good reason to believe or to disbelieve. But if you mean lack of conclusive information, then yes.

Is "lack of belief" to be equated with "lacking understanding"?

I don't think so. At first sight, understanding would seem to make belief unnneeded and redundant.

 

[whereismynotecard]

I think lacking a belief is the same thing as disbelief.

Lacking means without, or not having, right?

So it's like not having a belief. "I live with lack of belief in god." = "I live without believing in god."

That's the way I see it. But I sure say some stupid things sometimes.

 

[idea]

If there are two things that contradict one another, you have to choose one over the other. Either you believe love is a good thing, or you don't. "I "don't believe" that hate makes people happy" or you could say "I believe that love makes people happy".. To say you do not believe in one thing, is simply to say you believe in another thing more. It's not really a lack of belief - it's just a belief in something different. IMO. No one can believe in everything.

 

[Yerda]

What does it mean to lack belief in a thing?

"To believe" is to have assigned truth to a piece of knowledge you posess. Its antithesis, an assigned falsehood, is "to disbelieve".

Is it possible to lack belief in anything?

It's certainly a convenient way of describing the condition where the criteria warranting belief are not met. Like almost everything we say it becomes complicated (tiringly so) the more you dwell on it.

Is "lack of belief" to be equated with a "lack of information"?

Is "lack of belief" to be equated with "lacking understanding"?

I would think both are common.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

This is why I say "absence of belief" - it's more accurate, and it doesn't imply that you're missing something, like the word "lack".

 

[Kilgore Trout]

If there are two things that contradict one another, you have to choose one over the other. Either you believe love is a good thing, or you don't. "I "don't believe" that hate makes people happy" or you could say "I believe that love makes people happy"..

You could say that you don't believe either love or hate make people happy - there's nothing logically inconsistent with that viewpoint.

 

[tomspug]

Belief AND non-belief first require understanding... which explains the large amount of "former-Christians" who didn't understand their religion in the first place.

 

[K.Venugopal]

Is there a lack of certainty when we say, I believe ...? Do we mean “the odds favour it but I am not dead sure”? When we say, "I believe in God" does it not just mean "In my opinion there is God, whatever opinion you may hold"?

 

[Trey of Diamonds]

What does it mean to lack belief in a thing?

I thought that is what Fundamentalists said of you when you refused to see the world the same way they do.

 

[Caladan]

What does it mean to lack belief in a thing?

Freedom.

 

[PureX]

"Lack of belief" is the result of poor language skills. What they mean is ambivalence. We believe, we disbelieve, or we are ambivalent.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

"Lack of belief" is the result of poor language skills. What they mean is ambivalence.

No they don't. Anybody who says they have a "lack of belief" in something isn't saying their uncertain about it. They're saying they don't believe it.

 

[PureX]

No they don't. Anybody who says they have a "lack of belief" in something isn't saying their uncertain about it. They're saying they don't believe it.

Then why don't they say they, "I don't believe"? Or, "I disbelieve it"?

 

[Kilgore Trout]

Then why don't they say they, "I don't believe"? Or, "I disbelieve it"?

Why not? It's synonymous. Unlike 'ambivalent'.

 

[PureX]

I think it's clumsy and misleading. And the term ambivalent is not synonymous with disbelief.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

I think it's clumsy and misleading. And the term ambivalent is not synonymous with disbelief.

You can think it's clumsy and misleading all you want, it's still synonymous, so your opinion of it's usage is irrelevant.

I didn't state anywhere that ambivalent meant disbelief. In fact, I specifically stated that it meant uncertain. Talk about misleading.

 

[PureX]

Atheist = mind made up ... no god.

Theist = mind made up ... yes god.

Agnostic = mind not made up ... could be leaning either way, or just don't know.

It's as simple as that.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

Atheist = mind made up ... no god.

Theist = mind made up ... yes god.

Agnostic = mind not made up ... could be leaning either way, or just don't know.

It's as simple as that.

Atheist = absence of belief in god(s)
Theist = belief in god(s)
Agnostic = believe we can't know either way

More simply.

 

[Willamena]

Atheist = absence of belief in god(s)
Theist = belief in god(s)
Agnostic = believe we can't know either way

If I were to ask the atheist "What is 'God'?" would he have an answer?
If I were to ask the theist "What is 'God'?" would he have an answer?
If I were to ask the agnostic "What is 'God'?" would he have an answer?