Belief

"Belief is a state of the mind, treated in various academic disciplines, especially philosophy and psychology, as well as traditional culture, in which a subject roughly regards a thing to be true."

My six goldfish vanished from my garden pond the other night. They hadn't been there very long and it is possible that they were abducted by aliens.

As children, we go through a slow process of coming to terms with the world that surrounds us. We are helped along the way, by others whip have already been through that process, and are fed with lies that enable us to accept what experiences come our way.  Mostly parents do not see them as lies, and are happy to promote  the stories that they grew up will as part of growing up.  Most children believe that a large fat man in a red suit climbs down the chimney of every boy or girl that has been good for a year, and leaves them gifts on the 25th of December. The impossibility of it, does not cross their minds; they accept it because their parents and their teachers tell them that is what happens and so for them it does.  It is an induction into the world of mythology and legend which for some is going to shape their minds for the rest of their lives. 

Children love stories, they love the ideas of fairies and dragons, of magic and wonder, and through these tales they learn much about good and bad, and also about living with other people. Most fairy tales have a message and are a way of addressing morality. Good always triumphs over bad and for most this i s a great comfort.

Later they learn about monsters and ghosts and other manufactured phenomena designed to scare, and through these they learn fear. Without interaction with caring adults, these fears can become nightmares and who knows what psychological damage can come from them.

Children believe what they are told, especially in the first five years or so of their lives, and what you tell them is going to stay with them until they reach the age of reason. Indoctrinate your children well enough and that age of reason is never achieved, as demonstrated by the Jesuits claims that if they have the child for the first seven years, they will give you the man.

We all grow up believing things, even things that have no foundation in fact whatsoever, and gradually, those beliefs  are demolished in the light of experience and through analysis observation and application of reason. Yet some beliefs remain. There may be race memories, genetically embedded that provide a need to believe in something, whether it be Nessie,  alien visitors or supernatural phenomena. There are plenty who believe in things that most others will consider silly, and yet the belief is there, it is embedded and impossible to shift. For some, ghosts are real, despite the fact that their existence cannot be proved. It is not possible to prove that something does not exist and because of this, there will always be those who have faith.

Having faith in an idea must be quite a comfort. You KNOW that you are right and that no-one can convince you otherwise. You do not need to prove anything, it is up to the rest of the world to do the impossible and to prove you wrong.  

The ability to convince others that you are right has enabled so many to control and manipulate populations and to divert the course of history. Faith and belief are incredibly powerful, they bind people and divide people at the same time. Blind faith is seen as something to be proud of, something to celebrate, and yet it is not. It is an escape from reality.

My fish I suspect were taken by a heron. I have seen on in the locality and although I did not witness what happened, I believe that this is the most likely cause of their disappearance.