Why We Believe

 

Because we can’t be experts in everything, much of what we believe is based on trust in our information sources—our parents, teachers, textbooks, news sources, scientists, religious leaders, etc. This is normal and works out for us most of the time, but it can also lead us astray. 

I once had a lengthy discussion about evolution and the vast age of the earth with a group of Christian friends who believed in a literal interpretation of the Bible. When I presented what I considered to be strong evidence in support of evolution and the earth being 4.5 billion years old, they simply found ways to cast doubt on or sidestep what the entire scientific community has believed for over a hundred years. One consistently silent member of the group was a geologist. As one by one the others left the conversation, he stayed. When only he and I remained, and everyone else was out of earshot, he stepped close and said quietly, “I don’t know about evolution, but the earth is 4.5 billion years old.”

What I learned that day is that belief, or at least expressed belief, doesn’t stem from logic or evidence. It’s born of necessity. We believe what we feel we need to believe. We strive to belong, to participate in social groups and in society. A belief in Creationism was seen by this group as a requirement of their religion, which had nothing to do with evidence or logic. In order to solve any mystery whether it’s philosophical, scientific, historical, or spiritual, we have to get past what we feel we should believe, or even need to believe. We can only discover the truth when we allow ourselves the freedom to believe exactly what we see, hear, feel, and think.