Belief is a powerful force. It is the cause of fulfillment and the cause of disappointment; the cause of sacrifice and the cause of suicide; the cause of art’s creation and of its destruction.
It is so dynamic that a single spoken sentence of forgiveness can put an end to a decade of hurt, and so dangerous that the belief of one can lead to the death of millions if it is strong enough. Belief may be the most powerful force on the planet.
We live our entire lives believing certain things about the world. At its foundation, any belief held by anyone is going to be either true or false, and its truth is independent of the intensity of the belief. On the other side of the world, a great many people believe in karma, which is an equalizing spiritual force ensuring that good is repaid with good and evil with evil. But either karma is real or it is confirmation bias, and if billions of people believe in it very strongly, that does not have any bearing on whether it is true or not. Very large groups of people have turned out to be very mistaken about some very big ideas throughout history.
Likewise, I (and a few billion other people) believe in prayer, which is direct communication with the God of the universe. But no matter how real it feels to me, no matter how much I see its effects in my own life, it is still either true or it’s not. I am either talking to God or talking to myself. Either God is intervening in my life, or I am empowered through my belief to achieve my own potential.
All tension in the world is caused by the collision of differing beliefs. In the 19th century, Britain believed its culture was best, and this led to many other cultures being destroyed under its far-reaching imperialism. Today, America believes capitalism and democracy are the hope of the world, so we spread that hope out of benevolence, through war if necessary. But these are all only beliefs. They may be true and they may not, but we are not more right because this is what we now believe. The next world power after us will believe the same of their new ideals and will say we were wrong, and we won’t be around to appeal.
Belief is more powerful than truth because belief controls our actions. But belief can still be guided by truth. This is why it is of utmost importance that we pursue not what is comfortable, not what is easy, but what is real.
