Are you old enough to believe that for every drop of rain that falls, a flower grows? Now that somewhere in the darkest night, a candle is lit? What about the idea that for all who go astray, someone will come to show the way? Even when they were written, some people did not accept these feelings. They had the belief that, to be true, something must be tangibly proven. The growth of scientific culture could mean that we could all end up thinking that there is a provable explanation for everything and if there is not, we cannot believe in it.

Sometimes we meet gullible individuals like those on the flat earth who seem capable of believing almost anything. This attitude is mocked in Lewis Carroll Through the looking glass when the White Queen says,

“Wow, sometimes I’ve believed in as many as six impossible things before breakfast.”

So what should we acknowledge to be true? Do beliefs have to make sense before accepting them?

Belief and open mind

I guess we differ a lot in our natural makeup. Perhaps this affects the way we are inclined to think about things. For example, according to the prevailing ‘Five Factor Personality Model’, those with a conventional and traditional outlook prefer familiar routines to new experiences and tend to have a narrower range of interests. At the other end of the scale are those who are more open to experience, curious about ideas and sensitive to aesthetic expression, and pay more attention to inner feelings and imagination. Being closed minded or open minded are two polar opposites and most people are somewhere on the continuum between them. However, it is not difficult to see how this could affect the nature of one’s beliefs.

Belief and a hard-minded disposition

Many of our political beliefs and social attitudes seem to be influenced by what is called a hard-minded or soft-minded disposition. This psychological continuum was first described by William James and is part of Hans Eysenck’s two-factor political attitude model. For example, some people think that more money should be spent in the judicial system because more criminals must be caught and get what they deserve. On the other hand, others believe that society should prevent crime by sharing resources more fairly and caring for vulnerable people.

Belief and how we make judgments

Belief may be more influenced by the heart or the head; by subjective experience or by objective rational logic. I think we all lean towards one of these two. Give more meaning to our feelings or more to our thoughts. Are you more likely to believe what you feel in your heart to be valuable, or is your belief more likely to be based on logical thinking? The danger of the former may be blind faith in some cause. The danger of the latter may be a cold impersonal conclusion.

Willingness to form a judgment

We can all perceive life using our bodily senses and intuitions. We can also, if we wish, draw conclusions about what we perceive. However, according to Carl Jung’s theory of personality typology, judging or perceiving may be the dominant mode. So, he considered that there are personality types that judge and perceive. Judging types seek to order, rationalize, and structure their outer world, as they actively judge external stimuli. They prefer to make decisions quickly and stick to their conclusions once they are made. On the other hand, the perceiver types do not seek to impose order on the outside world, but are more adaptive, perceptive and open, since they receive external stimuli. They have a flexible and open approach to life.

Religious belief and orientation

I suspect that similar to this type of perception is the so-called Religious Orientation Quest. According to Daniel Batson’s theory, people with this orientation treat their spirituality not as a means or an end, but as a search for truth.

“An individual who approaches religion in this way acknowledges that he or she does not know, and probably will never know, the final truth on such matters. Still, questions are considered important, and no matter how hard they are tried and subject to change, answers are sought.“(Daniel Batson, social psychologist)

Belief and personal development

I would suggest that we perceive things through a natural, moral or spiritual lens according to our personal development. In an early stage of personal development we tend to see life in terms of physical things and in accordance with an instinctive need to be nurtured and intimate. And so we make sense of experiences in relation to these factors. Further development involves basing one’s belief in what is good and right in interpersonal behavior. for example, belief related to the moral values ​​of justice and integrity. Later, one’s ideas can be illuminated by a deeper perception of what is good in life, for example, human well-being, a meaning and purpose of life, and an awareness of a hidden power behind the universe. For example, that there is a life force and design within nature, which science cannot measure, but which feels universal and infinite.

Belief and understanding

Until now, I have been arguing that individual differences in natural tendency and personal development affect the way we make sense of the world and therefore shape our beliefs. However, I would now ask if there is an additional important factor. Is it a rational understanding inherent in being truly human? If so:

“Our ability to see and know, if we try, what is true and what is good”(Emanuel Swedenborg, spiritual philosopher)

Because of this understanding, I would say that we can discern between what makes sense and what doesn’t. Without this ability, how could we have self-awareness and self-reflection? Without it, how could we see the pros and cons of a proposal without undue biases? And without it, how could we be aware of what is correct in the face of unhealthy desires.

In other words, this rationality is present no matter what kind of temperament and tendencies we are born with, and regardless of whether we are functioning on a natural, ethical, or spiritual level. It allows us to evaluate what ideas we listen to regardless of our wishes. Consequently, I would conclude that it forces us to form our beliefs on the basis of what makes rational sense using a higher light of understanding.