For starters, there is little better than standing around a camp fire, smoking hookah, and singing ska as loud as possible with a good group of friends.
I always wondered what drew the line between belief and knowledge. Tonight I've realized that there isn't one. Knowledge is belief. It must be, we don't notice it, but it is a conscious or unconscious decision to trust the inputs we receive as truth. We must choose at some level to decide what we will perceive as reality. I know that when a hand encounters a table saw a finger comes off, but I also know that when my grandfather used to 'pull his finger off' he was playing a trick. What is the difference? I used to believe he actually could pull a finger off, I knew it, but as I grew older my perception changed, and I believed in a different reality. With the saw, my perception hasn't changed, and I believe in that reality. Some people say that knowledge is based on facts, whereas belief is based on faith in unknowns. Well what are facts? Facts are things that we believe to be true so strongly that we don't question them. Things like, the earth is round, space is big, gravity pulls us down, these are facts. Then again these also used to be facts: the earth is flat, the sky is a roof on the earth, country music is good. What changed? Our perception? Our 'knowledge'? Our willingness to believe the things we experience.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not making the logical fallacy of saying that belief is knowledge. A=B, B~=A. Belief is having faith in what is truth without proof. God could come down and sign his name on your car, but if you choose not to believe in God, there is no knowledge of Him.
Really, that was just a rant of something I realized, not the actual point of the post, but it does sort of tie in nicely without being directly related. What point has to arrive before you realize that the gut feeling you have is not just a feeling, but a belief, and then a knowledge? Do you have to be shown proof? Or do you simply have to choose to believe strongly enough? I believe in something. Many do not approve, more don't understand, but that is their perception of reality. I'm not trying to disprove absolute objective truth, but who defines it? I agree it must exist, but right and wrong are a belief system. I believe in mine strongly enough that I feel (know) it is the right one, but that is my opinion. My opinion holds no weight in the jungles of Cameroon. The question is, once you identify a truth, once you realize a problem, can you really not acknowledge it? The question is not whether we should or should not act. The question is, can we rightfully justify inaction? I don't believe so. I do not relish the thought of people judging me harshly, being disappointed in me, or disapproving my actions, but in truth, the only real judge of my actions is not mortal. I must judge myself as I believe He would, in hopes that when the time comes for me to be judged in the only court that matters, I will be able to stand and say, "I did my best. It was not good enough, I fall on your mercy, but I did do my best. Forgive me, and accept what little enough I can offer." I'm not perfect, I'm not close, but I'm trying.
Pro Spem pugno
Kira
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