HowDoYouKnow.co
Truth or Belief

Seeking answers in a world of increasing complexity can be confusing, there is a lot of creative thinking.

Evaluating ideas can be difficult, the process of knowing the truth takes time and effort.

Asking hard questions, thinking critically, and being skeptical is critical in a time of social media and AI.

Knowledge or Certainty

is the title of chapter eleven in Jacob Bronowski's book "The Ascent of Man"

Video - 1.5 minutes from Auschwitz

The book looks at the process required to create the principles

Values guide the process

Being objective allows differing ideas to be discussed, it is a rational approach

Knowledge

Knowledge is not absolute and has limits. The idea that truth changes is counterintuitive to the certainty that it can imply. Knowledge changes and questioning everything is part of the process.

Certainty

Certainty doesn't rely on proof. It can be based on the ideas of a group, the need to be right, or to win. Certainty is often used to answer questions when the answers are not known and is seen as better than having no answers.

It can be the result of limited access to information, not wanting to hear different ideas, not believing different ideas even if there is strong support, reacting with emotion rather than reason, and attacking the source rather than reasonably considering the ideas.

Belief is hard if not impossible to change as seen in cults and extreme political or religious beliefs.

Truth is harder to find than beliefs and it changes. When one is certain of their beliefs, they often think these are better than other beliefs and want to impose them on everyone.

Adopting the beliefs of a group can be more important for survival than searching for truths, so it is a quality many people have that makes belief so common.

Belief makes discovering the truth more difficult. Knowledge is beyond belief.

The Process

Ideas are tested to find the best evidence. Revisions are made as new evidence is discovered.

It is important to question ideas and ask, how could I be wrong. Being wrong is part of the process.

The focus is on ideas, discussing ideas rather than the person expressing the ideas.

Knowledge is principles that rely on the process that is used to create them.

The Main Value

The number one value is truth. It must be the top priority, more important than any deeply held belief, the need to be right, or winning an argument. If an idea can not be changed, it is not knowledge. It can be very hard or impossible to change belief.

Limits

There are limits to what is known, often the answer is" there is no answer'. The process of knowing resolves differences and finds answers when possible.

Understanding that some things are not known is the alternative to a belief just to have an answer.

Bronowski and Feynman

Jacob Bronowski "The Ascent of Man" book

"There is no absolute knowledge. And those who claim it, whether they are scientists or dogmatists, open the door to tragedy. All information is imperfect ". (353).

Physicists Richard P Feynman on Uncertainty - "The pleasure of finding things out" 30 second video

Perspective

Viewing things on a different scale of time and size creates a broader perspective, from subatomic to astronomical. video.

The earth rotates at about 1000 mph, it orbits the sun at 67,000 mph, and moves through the galaxy at 514,000 mph. A light year is about 6 trillion miles. The nearest star to earth is 4.2 light years but the furthest is 28 billion light years, in a universe that is 13.8 billion years old.

We live in the information age with access to knowledge from outside our group. It is possible go beyond the ideas the group of people we are born into and live differently than one's cultural tradition. About 117 billion people have lived and artificial intelligence helps to use that collective knowledge.

Rational behavior makes seeking this broader knowledge more likely. Awareness, control, questioning, and reason are alternatives to actions based on emotions like fear, anger, vengeance, greed, and insecurities.

Awareness

By focusing attention on how we are responding rather than just the situation, and categorizing it as emotion or reason creates more awareness and control. With more control it is possible to look at the logic of the situation and see outcomes with less emotion.

Some people have a high level of self-awareness and can separate reason from emotion, others have a hard time being aware of how they are reacting. It is a skill that can be developed with practice.

Change

The desire to win an argument, be right, support a group, be a rebel, or not admit to being wrong all make it hard to give up a belief even when there is no evidence to support it.

Trust in a group can make it very difficult to consider ideas that are different, so belonging becomes more of a priority than truth.

Sources

Knowledge is acquired in different ways like personal experience, deduction, study, experimentation, and intuition. But a lot of knowledge comes from sources like friends, family, social groups, social media, and news.

It is important to be able to determine if an idea is knowledge or belief. It is extreme to believe the earth is flat, but it is a matter of degree different than other beliefs.

If a source does not consider the possibility that it could be wrong, or never admits to being wrong, then it is not knowledge.

When a source is focusing on winning an argument, or attacking people rather ideas, then truth is not the top priority.

Summary

When searching for knowledge, discussing different ideas is important. Concentrate on the ideas and not the person.

The online conversations allow comments to become more personal and less objective.

Pay attention to how you are responding as either emotion or reason. Keep discussions rational by avoiding comments, tone, or words that could be perceived as not objective. News sources that focus on what is reported and pay less attention to how objectively it is reported reduce their credibility.

Values and behavior are at the core of the discovery process. They offer civility and reason. Truth must be a priority over belief. Change and being wrong are part of the process. There are limits to what is known. Self awareness, respect, tolerance, perspective, and humility are necessary.

The process creates the principles of science.

Some Resources

Why it would be better if everyone thought like a scientist by James Kakalios

The pleasure of finding things out- Feynman

New Scientist

Sci tech daily

Interactive learning- 11 sites

The Certainty Illusion

Science and Human Values by Jacob Bronowski

Stanford science education list of sites

CHT The Human Movement discussion

The Human Movement website