Everyone has his or her own system of beliefs.  Whether it is a belief in the spirit of Christmas, or the belief that God created the earth, everyone clings to these truths forged in the mind.  Beliefs are based on childhood memories and experiences, as well as trial and error experiences in day to day living.  They continue to change throughout our lives.  We all have automatic beliefs that we learn from an early age:  don’t touch the stove, it’s hot, don’t drink and drive, you will crash.  People believe these things, but unfortunately it takes trial and error for some people, even though they believe that the stove is hot.  The line between believing and knowing is sometimes very thin, while other times it is very thick.  People believe the stove is hot, but some need more evidence to know the stove is hot.  People know that drunk driving will cause accidents, but they do it anyway.  They believe that they will be able to drive safely.  Our beliefs can be based on the knowledge of others combined with our own personal experiences.  Sometimes beliefs are taken simply from what we assume from the examination of a situation.  So beliefs come from personal and outside knowledge and advice, as well as personal assumptions and theories.  Belief and knowledge come hand in hand; our knowledge builds our belief and our belief builds our knowledge.

            As defined in the Merriam-Webster dictionary, belief is a state or habit of mind in which trust or confidence is placed in some person or thing.  Belief can either be a state of mind, or a habit of the mind.  When someone has been cut by a knife, he knows that knives are dangerous, and forms a habit, or belief, in his mind.  When experienced, one believes, and finally knows.  How are belief and knowledge different?  Belief comes from trust and confidence, not hard evidence.  Belief is the step just before knowledge is gained.  We have confidence in the ideas and experiences of others, usually people of authority.  Another definition, from Dictionary.com, puts belief in a slightly different light:  confidence in the truth or existence of something not immediately susceptible to rigorous proof.  This is where the assumptions come in.  Sometimes we just have to believe something.  We have to believe that if we jump off a cliff, we will die.  We can’t prove it, but we believe it.  This is where the line between knowledge and belief is indefinitely drawn.  Knowledge is gained through practice and experience, it is a skill formed through trial and error.  Belief is an unproved, usually assumed acceptance of suggested facts or ideas.  Belief comes from so many sources that it would be impossible to track where one certain belief comes from.

            Belief is usually associated with religious meaning and is used countless times at church and religious activities.  At church, people believe in things not seen.  There are countless stories of belief in the Bible, where one person knows from experience and others believe on their word.  Religion is the most common place to find the word belief in use, but there are also many other uses of the word throughout society.  One can believe in the government, or more commonly, disbelieve in the government.  The song by musical group The Monkeys, I’m a Believer, has the line in it, “Now I’m a believer”.  People use belief to display their imperfect knowledge, but willingness to follow an idea or person.  The government example, for instance, presents a good situation.  People do not have a perfect knowledge of any government institution, but they will vote for and follow their governmental leaders with the belief that they will represent their needs and wants.  Many politicians use their belief that change can happen to dodge their promises when they are elected.  If they believe and their beliefs are proved to be misguided, it is much better than if their knowledge is proved wrong.  A politician can believe that his or her party will make a better America and publicly state their belief.  After their term is up, they will be in better shape if only their beliefs are disproved and not their promises.

            The phrase “I Believe” has been used by countless groups, notably UFO watchers, when they state their belief in something that seems fanatical or extreme.  Belief is used to describe feelings about something or someone without pure knowledge and fact to back it up.  Belief is highly emotional and mental, and usually requires little physical action.  Faith is directly related to belief, and they have very similar definitions.  Usually belief and faith can derive from each other in the mind, and sometimes they can be interchanged.  Usually faith is a much stronger emotional word, and shows a stronger conviction of belief in something or someone.  Beliefs are generally associated with traditions and past experiences.  Children believe anything and everything they are told until a certain age, when they sometimes put these beliefs to the test.  Beliefs are constantly changing and morphing into new beliefs and eventually knowledge.  Religious beliefs are the least likely to transform into knowledge, as these beliefs are usually founded from a young age and cannot be proved unless a miraculous event or point of enlightenment comes along to prove some beliefs true.  Beliefs are founded from some sort of authoritative ideal or person, as we look up to and believe in these.

Little kids will believe almost anything, until they are tricked so many times that they begin to question their basic system of beliefs.  I had this experience as a young child, slowly discovering that everything I had believed in slowly crumbled under the weight of reality.  The Tooth Fairy was the first to go, as kids at school began to talk.  I knew it seemed improbable, but my belief was so strong that at first I didn’t want to let go.  After I did, every other false idol of my childhood came crashing down.  Santa Claus became mere legend.  The Easter Bunny seemed more obvious now.  My beliefs had changed, and I was a new believer in the real world.  Yet, as I tried to impose my new found beliefs on my younger sisters, my parents discouraged me. 

When my belief system, basic and childlike was tested and failed, I began to search for my new beliefs.  My religious beliefs were founded upon what my parents had taught me from an early age.  My new beliefs of the world founded my moral conscience and affect how I view the knowledge that I am presented with.  Belief is a strong conviction in something unseen, unproved, or unknown.  Beliefs are not natural or easily gained, but are discovered and created through life’s experiences and trials.  Just as a child learns that Santa isn’t real and his beliefs are changed, our beliefs are changed throughout life as we experience and see more.  Our assumptions become beliefs, only to be eventually proved or disproved by another experience.

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