A conceptual perspective on belief [View all]

[GliderGuider]

All experiences begin as a projection of sensory data into the brain. Then a minor miracle occurs, and that data becomes a perception. Then a second miracle occurs, and the perception enters our consciousness (the existence of consciousness being the biggest miracle of all). Once we are conscious of the perception we must interpret it to give it meaning. And it seems to me that's where the tangle of belief happens.

Interpretations are based on a combination of hard-wired instinctual responses (that we can't do much about) and learned patterns. Learned patterns can be thought of as chronologically layered piles of stored concepts. Each stored concept is formed of an earlier concept modified by a new cognitive response and an associated emotional charge. The emotional charge colors the concept, and filters each new perception that is passed through it. That coloration means that the perception is no longer neutral. The quality of the emotional charge determines whether our association with the concept is positive or negative, and the stronger that charge is the more attached we are to that concept. This is the mental raw material of beliefs.

Instinct is hard to avoid, but we can do something about the emotional coloration of our concepts. The process of relinquishing beliefs is precisely the process of identifying and either eliminating or short-circuiting the emotional charge associated with our stored concepts. The more we do that, the more accurate our perceptions become, and the less we will attach ourselves to them. The outcome is less bias, judgement, clinging and suffering.

There are of course more poetic ways of putting this...