Organic and synthetic beliefs
  • _db
    3.6k
    The things I believe in, I think, can be broadly classified into two categories: organic and synthetic beliefs.

    Organic beliefs are those that are, at least in part, drawn from my own thinking and experience, and oftentimes the initial thing that led to the formulation of these beliefs are these personal things.

    Synthetic beliefs are those that are taught to me. Had they not been imposed upon me, I might not ever believe them myself. Because they are not rooted in the raw soil of what I myself have thought and felt, they may not even be something I want to believe.

    Organic beliefs are those that you arrive at primarily by yourself. Synthetic beliefs are those that you arrive at primarily through the persuasion of other people.

    I might think someone's organic belief is completely wrong, but being that it is an organic belief, it commands a degree of respect. This person has formulated this belief on their own, through their own efforts, by their own mind. It is unique to the person, it is creative and authentic. Their belief might be wrong, but at least it's theirs.

    Conversely, I can agree with someone's synthetic belief, but it does not command the same kind of respect as an organic belief does. They just coincidentally happen to believe in the same thing I do. They are not a leader, they are a follower. They do not create, they just copy. They are not so much a thinker as they are a sponge that lets other people think for them.

    I think this ties into the Socratic method of teaching: it is not so much about teaching people what is right and what is wrong (synthetic beliefs), but rather allowing them to reach these conclusions on their own (organic beliefs).
    _db Options
  • Judaka
    1.7k
    ↪darthbarracuda

    Isn't this just your way of saying that you like it when people think for themselves? Does the distinction do anything except create a value in thinking for yourself whereby you can say your beliefs are organic rather than synthetic? I think that you should prioritise how a person came to adopt a belief, whether it be of their own making or not. Evaluate the intellect's adoption of a belief and their reasons for believing. Regardless of the belief's origin, if the quality of the explanation for your having it is mediocre then the thinking behind it was mediocre too. A belief can be thought to be flawed in many ways but your classification is merely aiming for a cultural or psychological impact, is it not? What practical reason is there to make this distinction?
    Judaka Options
  • Regretomancer
    4
    ↪darthbarracuda


    I think you are inventing new terms for belief with/without understanding or critical thought. If the only input you have is what you personally experience, you will have a limited set of things you can have views on. And even then almost anything presented to you will come with some bias or belief baked into it (even your own two eyes).

    If someone makes a belief statement, and I critically evaluate the statement, understand what it means then I decide to agree with it I think it is only a little different than coming up with a belief yourself (though you will always be more intimately familiar with something you create on your own).

    I wouldn't put too much importance into this whole leader/follower dynamic. Not everyone can be expected to have the breadth of experience and the time available to compose original beliefs on everything in the world. The best you can expect is critical thought and understanding instead of blindly following a belief (understanding vs rote learning). Otherwise, by simply reading my reply here, you are contaminating yourself with a 'synthetic' belief (if you happen to believe what I am saying) which you seem to attribute less worth to.

    As long as you are always willing to continually re-asses your beliefs against your understanding of the world, I think you won't have to fear becoming a parrot.
    Regretomancer Options
bold
italic
underline
strike
code
quote
ulist
image
url
mention
reveal
youtube
tweet
Add a Comment

Welcome to The Philosophy Forum!

Get involved in philosophical discussions about knowledge, truth, language, consciousness, science, politics, religion, logic and mathematics, art, history, and lots more. No ads, no clutter, and very little agreement — just fascinating conversations.

Sign In Create Account

Categories