For a long time, I've wanted to write my opinions on beliefs. Cause beliefs are more than just a surety, a thought. The brain and heart are indelibly fused while accepting something as the real thing. Once a choice is made, it gets emotionally coded in your head. Every further such choice will be compared to the previous one by your rationale. For example, a student who has once failed will know that the possibility of failure exists. The next time he gives an exam, he knows that he is no longer invincible. Thus he makes the "choice" of preparing absolutely perfectly and appearing for the paper. Any further exam given re-enforces this choice.
Nowadays, most of us believe that the choices we have made are right for us. There was a time when a person couldn't repudiate the establishment's beliefs. The dogmatic, narrow-minded views of the pre-renaissance catholic church come to mind. Galileo said that the earth was round, which was against the church's opinion. So it was deemed as heresy. What's interesting is that I am sure Galileo must have made a choice to believe so. The choice to trust scientific experiments over any other. All his life he kept on making this choice, till one fine day he announced that the world is round. To others, it was like a bolt out of the blue. Unfortunately for the church, it turned out to be true. And so they took their time to diplomatically "adjust" their beliefs. Its similar to the behavior of a sore loser refusing to admit his inferiority. Or the stubbornness of a little child when denied a chocolate. However, Im 100% sure the Pope at the time of Galileo must have surely believed that the world was flat till his dying breath. Cause his repeated choices have emotionally coded that into his brain.
Today's governments are the popes and churches of the 21st century. They each define their LAWS. They're just waiting to enforce them. And if you want to live in a particular country, you have to follow their LAWS. Translation - Believe what they believe. North Korea places the country above humanity. If you want to stay amicably in North Korea, you will have to too. That does not mean North Korea is right or wrong, it just chooses to believe that. When you choose to believe in God, you choose to follow a moral code. You refuse to believe in the Big Bang.
The day the brain has finally developed, beliefs have developed. According to that, everyone's beliefs are developed by the age of 18. Thus all their future choices and desires are all determined. The trouble lies in identifying and interpreting their beliefs. That is the process which can take a few minutes to a few decades, depending on the intuitiveness of the person or their ability to self-analyze unemotionally. Failure to identify the beliefs or "the repeated choices made since childhood" results in intense physical and mental side effects or something commonly known as "disappointments and failures".
An exception to the above is that lots of people have made inconsistent choices throughout their formative years, thus resulting in a feeling of confusion or loneliness when they become adults. In observing the subtleties of behavior, this can be better inferred. A man who doodles over simple activities and procrastinates over things is constantly making and re-making decisions. Of course the degree of procrastination does matter, but in general he has a higher probability of finding it difficult to believe in or commit to anything.
I have the good fortune of knowing a person who is completely self-aware. Thus, this is what i have learned from that person in the many interactions that we have had.
Of course, all that is written above is neither right nor wrong. I am just choosing to believe it.
