Why does human mind has to believe in something?

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   Parantap Bhattposted 9 years ago

   Why does human mind has to believe in something?
   
   What is it in human mind that it needs to have a belief. It wants to be satiated with answers about his special place in the Universe, the meaning of its existence and the death will not be the final rest. Once that belief sets in it roots itself in the subconscious and moulds the complete identity of the individual. No one can argue or convince the person over a belief, neither the morality of a belief can be defined with perfect rationality.

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2. 0

   Awesome Harryposted 9 years ago

   René Descartes once said "Cogito ergo sum" which means "I am thinking, therefore I exist". In other words, human mind cannot stay inactive. It always thinks about something, has some beliefs, asks questions and so on. If all those processes stop, then we will stop existing as humans.

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      Parantap Bhattposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Totally agree with the former but what I was wondering was why do we need to believe in something as absolute, why doesn't out brain questions itself once it settles on a belief?

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   HappyTom LMposted 9 years ago

   Because we need to believe in something to judge what we do if this is right or not. Bad or good. Even if you don't want to do so, we do so.

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      Parantap Bhattposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      What about your own sense of reasoning? Isn't it capable of judging right from wrong? Why we need to have an outer source as the judge and the divine reward is the only incentive to do the right thing?
      Without belief too people do moral deeds.

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4. 85

   Paul K Francisposted 9 years ago

   I think believing in something is like having a life philosophy or a premise on which we base many of our life choices, and much of our decision making, when practicality alone is not enough. And this may not always be absolute; when we question our choices, we may also question our beliefs.

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5. 84

   M. T. Dremerposted 9 years ago

   In the grand scheme of things, humans are incredibly small. We're tiny life forms on a tiny planet, in a tiny solar system, in a tiny galaxy, in a vast, vast universe. But we have trouble conceiving of much beyond that tiny planet. For that reason, we create gods and beliefs as a way of making that vast universe human, or at least a way to view it through a human lens.
   
   For example, an ant might think a human is just a giant ant, because it's only capable of thinking of things in 'ant terms'. So it makes sense that our belief systems would create gods that look like humans and beliefs that match up with everything we like and think is important. It is both a defense mechanism (against hard questions/experiences) and also a tangible way to try to explain something intangible.

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