The Difference Between Believing and Knowing
There is a difference between knowing something and believing something. When you believe something, there is an emotional component to it, which makes it more impactful than things you just know. Oftentimes a belief is something that has a lot of evidence behind it. If you believe the world is unfair, you have probably seen a lot of small moments where you or others did not receive what felt fair, or perhaps just one big moment where something very unfair happened. If you have someone in your life that you believe cares about you, that person has probably told you or shown you more than once that they do. Knowledge is something you know because the evidence lines up. You know 2+2 is 4, mostly because you can count. You probably don’t have any strong feelings about that fact, even though you’ve probably known it a long time and have seen evidence in favor of it. Beliefs help us understand the world and how to act in a way that knowledge doesn’t.
Beliefs are also a lot harder to change than knowledge.
Many people know what a bald eagle sounds like, because they’ve heard them before on TV and in movies. This is something they know, and have known for a long time, but if I tell someone that eagles usually make more of a chirping sound, and the noise you hear on television is actually a hawk’s cry, it probably would not be very difficult for them to remember that and incorporate it into their world view. They might even get some enjoyment out of telling other people about it.
I am going to use a fictional example you might be familiar with. In Star Wars, Obi Wan Kenobi tells Luke Skywalker that his father was a Jedi-Knight, who was brave and good, and was murdered by Darth Vader who is evil and a traitor. This is something Luke Skywalker believes, he has several emotional connections to this belief. He trusts Obi-Wan Kenobi, and believes that his mentor is telling him the truth. He believes his father was a good and kind person, and even though he never met his father this is important to him and also means that he is good. He believes that Darth Vader is evil, and someone he is completely different from. These beliefs make it very difficult for Luke to accept the truth, that Darth Vader is his father, and that Obi-Wan Kenobi lied to him. Luke yells, cries, and has an existential crisis about it. He feels betrayed, and has to take some time talking about it with someone before he is able to accept the truth.
What can we do with this?
Knowledge and beliefs both affect the way we view the world and how we interact with other people. Beliefs have a much stronger hold on us, and are much more difficult to change. Beliefs usually have to do with ourselves, people we know, the way the world works, and the difference between right and wrong. Your beliefs about yourself probably affect the way you act and the ways you take care of yourself. Your beliefs about others might affect how much you are able to trust. Your beliefs about the universe probably affect how safe you feel and how you respond to other people.
It isn’t always easy to recognize beliefs. We might just think of them as facts and not realize the emotional connection. It can be very difficult to let go of a belief even when we know it isn’t true, especially if we have held the belief for a long time. Sometimes when bad things happen we develop negative beliefs that can harm us. Luckily, through time and effort, we can identify those negative beliefs and change them. This series will cover where beliefs come from, how to begin noticing negative beliefs, and some ways to begin working to change those beliefs, both by yourself and with the help of a therapist.