gibran2 wrote:
Based on your first statement, thinking about something leads to belief. In your second statement, you suggest that thinking about something does not lead to belief. So what exactly is your premise?
You are correct I'll define. If you think about something enough that it becomes a habitual thought, then it would be classified as a belief. Unless, that habitual thought runs up against and is superceded by previously held beliefs. Obviously if you already think you can fly then that is a belief that has been created by previous thoughts that became habitualized.
Quote: This happens all the time, in particular with infants. For example, infants learn about object permanence and come to believe that objects continue to exist even when out of sight. They believe in object permanence without ever having thought about the concept and without being able to articulate it.
Belief without thought.
be·lief
–noun
1. something believed; an opinion or conviction
2. confidence in the truth or existence of something not immediately susceptible to rigorous proof
How can you prove there is no thought involved in this process? And if there is no thought involved then there cannot be belief in something, as it is a cognative process. One cannot have an opinion or conviction without thought, one cannot have confidence in the truth or existence of something without thought.
Quote:Also, there are many things I believe even though I’ve given them very little thought. For example, I believe that it is impossible for me to teleport myself to the moon by patting my head and rubbing my belly while I sing The Star-Spangled Banner. I believe this even though I’ve never thought about it before.
Here your thoughts are superceded by previously held beliefs. Your belief in what you have been taught, in the "laws" 0f nature prevent you from teleporting. Its not that you believe it is impossible, its that you dont believe it is possible due to previous superceding belief systems. A subtle but profound difference of focus. You cannot believe in a negative, it's that you do not believe in a positive.
Quote:It is possible to come to believe something as a consequence of constant repetition, but generally not probable. I did an experiment: I thought to myself “I can fly” 100 times, and I still don’t believe I can fly.
Well then, it obviously did not become a habitual thought...
Quote: How do you know this? How do you know what is going on in the heads of world leaders? People in general often don’t understand their motivations, so why exempt world leaders?
Because it is self evident. It takes more than a single person to start a war, and the time, money and resources necessary to do so are enormous. There are no "accidental" wars. There is the Plan, and there is what the people are told to get them to support the Plan (often using false beliefs). Name one war where the "true" cause of the war was due to false beliefs of the instigators.
What, you ask, was the beginning of it all?
And it is this...
Existence that multiplied itself
For sheer delight of being
And plunged into numberless trillions of forms
So that it might
Find
Itself
Innumerably.
-Sri Aubobindo
Saidin is a fictional character, and only exists in the collective unconscious. Therefore, we both do and do not exist. Everything is made up as we go along, and none of it is real.