Knowledge, Truth, and Belief

Natural Patterns, e.g the sun rising in the morning

The sun appears in the sky every morning
consistently

We can conclude that the sun will rise every morning.
This is something we can for sure know.

Except no, the sun doesn't always rise in the morning

Depending on your location, the sun
may not rise for more than 24 hours, known
as a "polar night"

Those who live in these regions would not say that
the sun always rising is true

Knowledge is informed by our environment and the
way we interact with it.

We have prior knowledge that the sun rises daily

Death

Death is a consistently observed pattern in the world.
All things known to be living will, eventually, die.

Historically, there have not been any verifiably
immortal persons

Accurately corresponds with the world; therefore,
we can conclude the fact that "all things will die" is true

The fact that death will come
scares many people. So we form
beliefs about what happens after it
or ways to counteract it.

Belief in Heaven/hell

Reincarnation

Concept of the "Philosopher's Stone"

Alchemical studies to find the
elixir of life

Fountain of youth

Power of Prayer

A pragmatic view of prayer relies on whether or not
it actually works in practice

Some minor studies have shown prayer to be effective
in healing patients; however, this can be attributed to things like the placebo effect.

People who already believe in prayer are reinforced by this real life evidence. This evidence also effects some non-believers

Reinforced belief in supreme being

Reinforced Belief in heaven/hell

Heavily affected worldview based on the evidence

Despite the evidence, there is still the factor of coincidence.

Just because something happens directly after an event
doesn't mean it was caused by it

Interactions with the world supposedly justify these beliefs; however, they come from a somewhat biased worldview

By attaching ourselves to our beliefs, our capacity for knowledge is limited.

Differing views on the evidence is discredited because it doesn't align with a person's experiences or personal beliefs.

"Practice Makes Perfect"

Many people believe that you have to have talent
in order to succeed in specific areas. From a pragmatic
perspective, this is untrue.

What is talent? it can be said to be a natural ability in any craft or practice; however, "talented" people still have to develop skill. Any talent left unpracticed will deteriorate.

Through interaction with the world, it's easy to conclude that practice does indeed makes perfect. I am an artist and it can be frustrating to hear the unfounded belief when people say they can't draw. Anyone can draw, except not a lot of people put in the effort to develop their skills.

I started out as a very mediocre artist who merely dabbled.
It's taken me 6 years to get to where I am now.

Because, in relation to other things, talent doesn't actually seem to matter it cannot be verifiably true. Practice, on the other hand, shows real results and is consistent enough to be held as true.

I believe practice to be more important
than talent because of my interactions in the world
and how they have informed my approach to my art

The "Mandela Effect" AKA False Memory

Widespread False Memories

Nelson Mandela was widely thought
thought to be dead when he was not

Related to misinformation and general ignorance

How do false accounts become common knowledge?

Shows how unreliable both our memories and knowledge
can be.

"Berenstein Bears" vs. "Berenstain Bears"

Many people remember the popular book series
as being called the "Berenstein Bears" when this was never
the case.

Many People agree on a certain spelling of the name

Although this spelling is incorrect, enough people believe it to have been true for it to become common knowledge

Widely believed by many people

Questions the reliability of our supposed knowledge

Climate Change Responsibility

Many people believe that individuals should hold
responsibility for their impacts on global warming and
the climate

Use less gas

eat less meat

Use more renewable products

Recycle more often

Recycling comes after Reducing and Reusing

Much of what we recycle is left in landfill due to
companies having little use for the materials.

Valid beliefs, but who had this thought in the first place?

Corporations forced responsibility onto consumers
to shift focus off of themselves

Pushes to reduce littering and to recycle more are
used as ways to put responsibility on consumers

Many people hold their responsibility
for climate change as true

This belief supplants the focus on industry
contributions to the climate crisis. Although
it's important to practice mindfulness when
it comes to our environmental impact, the blame
should be on companies more so than individuals.

In reality, only around 90 companies contribute
the most to carbon emissions and global warming

Problems with the theory

In many ways resembles bandwagon fallacies

Even though many people have aligning beliefs,
this does not mean that these beliefs are reliably true

Relies on our perceptions of reality to be accurate,
something which is incredibly arguable