The human being, since time immemorial, is born with the innate ability to believe. From the time of the caverns, through the Middle Ages and on to the present day, we have, as a race, evolved a lot; However, when it comes to thinking and believing, we continue to be that same race that populated the earth, being little more than a pagan culture.
All of us, regardless of the creed we proclaim, or even if we proclaim not to believe in anything, even there we are promoting a form of belief.
If we take an example, a person who believes in religion has a belief based on the existence of a god, or of various gods, whatever the case. At the same time, an atheist has the belief that there is no god and that it is mostly due to science. Regardless of whether or not he believes in a god, a person believes in something.
Now when we talk about belief we are also talking about the parts of our personality that choose to hold blind faith in something we believe in. We go through not only the branch of religion, but by affirming a thing we believe it to be a truth and in that way we manifest it before the world. That is precisely what beliefs are based on; in those acts of faith that, as human beings, we proclaim and let continue their course.
What is a belief?
The concepts that, in our language, we attribute to belief, is that of something in which we have blind faith, and which seems to us and is an unshakable truthWell, no one who tries will be able to make us change our mind about our thoughts towards that belief.
In another concept that we give to the belief in our language, it is the opinion that we can have about a person or an object. It is also used in the same previous context, because in these opinions that we have, they will not be able to move us and change what we think. These are the concepts that are attributed in our language to beliefs.
Where do we get beliefs?
Beliefs originate from when we are children, since since we begin to develop consciousness we are able to create our own dogmas and thoughts. Following this base of ideas, we can say that we develop beliefs based on the things we learn and see during our childhood and adolescence.
The moment we begin to learn we begin to believe, and regardless of whether we believe in real and proven things, or in fantasies and questions that have no answer scientifically speaking, we are capable of thinking that things are like that, and nothing will get us out. of our idea.
In the case of children, it is very common for them to begin their life with beliefs and thoughts that lead them to a fantasy world.
There are those who think that this is bad for children, since reality must always be instilled in them. However, there are experts who claim that allowing children to believe in their own childhood fantasies, such as the tooth fairy or the Easter bunny, is beneficial for them, not only because it allows them to preserve that purity of childhood, but because, at the moment of revealing the truthAlthough it may be hard for some, we show them that not everything that one thinks is real or correct is actually so.
We teach them that beliefs can change and, what's more, they need to do so so that, as people, we can evolve.
The types of beliefs
When they talk to us about beliefs, we usually go directly to what refers to religious beliefs. For some reason we jump straight to religion when we talk about this, and no wonder, since belief in a religion is one of the most, not only important, but also one of the most clinging.
In most cases, people who have religious beliefs will tend to be able to believe better, since they are tied to dogmas of faith in which they are allowed to believe that even the most unlikely things can become possible.
This is actually treated as a sane approach to discuss, since people who have religious beliefs are usually less prone to the cynicism shown by those who do not.
Despite this, the belief is divided into several subtypes, and it all depends on the moment in which you are, and the topic you are dealing with. Here we will study some of the types that make up beliefs:
Normative beliefs
In this type we can deal with descriptive beliefs, and moral ones, also called normative.
- Descriptive beliefs: These are those that are acquired by a simple imperfect tracing of reality. They show us what we live in the present, whether this is what we want or not.
- Moral beliefs: This group of beliefs tells us what is right and what is wrong, and through these types of beliefs we can shape our behavior.
Beliefs according to consciousness
In many ways, we find beliefs that have such a degree of importance in our psyche that we can already take them in an unconscious way. This distinction is confusing because we cannot be entirely sure to what extent an idea is unconscious or not.
- Conscious beliefs: When we speak of these beliefs we refer to those that are part of our daily speech, and in the way we express our convictions, either verbally or in writing, and with which we refer to our opinions.
- Unconscious beliefs: Unconscious belief is one that can be expressed through involuntary acts or thoughts. For example a person who believes that lying is always wrong You may find that you are not really thinking this if you are given a situation where it does not have dire consequences.
- Religious beliefs: When we speak of religious beliefs, we can go back to any stage of history, since religion has had a wide margin of action in human behavior since time immemorial.
In this aspect we must know how to distinguish between religious beliefs and secular beliefs.
- Religious beliefs: As the name implies, these beliefs are tightly bound to a religion, and with the same steadfast determination a person will conform and cling. to the dogmas and commandments of this, regardless of his popularity, because on this he has based his faith.
- Secular beliefs: They are those that are not linked to any religion, and in this case it can be all other beliefs. In the case of atheism is subject to debate if it is a religious or secular belief, since although they say they do not believe in religions, their main belief is based on them, since they believe that they are not true.
Beliefs according to their usefulness
The belief that we have can also have an impact on our quality of life. That is why we must know how to distinguish between adaptive and maladaptive beliefs.
- Adaptive beliefs: They are those that allow us to continue with our day to day without having to harm anyone or harm in any way another person or living being.
- Maladaptive beliefs: In this category are those beliefs that do not allow us to lead a life without harming or feeling prejudiced by other people with the things in which we believe. A kind of maladaptive belief may be the belief that there are inferior races, or the prevailing belief of National Socialism that both homosexuals and Jews should be exterminated.
Collective beliefs
Historically, it is known that a person may cling more to a belief if they feel they share it with one or more other people in your enviroment. When it comes to believing, perhaps the number of believers is as much, or more important, than the subject in which you believe. That is why churches are often the best way to believe in a religion, because thanks to them a person can get together with several who share their beliefs and their way of life.
In the political sphere, there have also been multiple meetings based on belief in a certain issue. That is why most countries in the world they take a bipartisan government, in which many people create groups and committees that support a certain branch of government, while others come together to support another sector.
When it comes to determining beliefs in young people, the easiest way to approach them is at school, since it is here that children and adolescents develop group behavior, and through classes and conversations group beliefs can be established in a classroom. lessons.