what should I believe and what not?

[Caelan Arendor]

I don’t have faith (or very little of it). Faith is the excuse people give for believing something when they don’t have evidence.

I want to believe as many true things and as few false things as possible.

Faith is not a virtue. Faith is gullibility. It’s evidence that determines whether or not your perception of reality is reasonable …

(Matt Dillahunty)

 

I always strive to form my own opinion after carefully considering and weighing as much of the available arguments and evidence as I can. Questioning critically is not a weakness—it is a virtue.

(Caelan 2025)

 

[HeavyHalfMoonBlade]

Not all things are equal. Is it wrong to have faith in your friends when you don't have evidence they will be true or will succeed? Is it wrong to have faith in yourself? 

 

I'm an old-school empiricist, so I very much believe in relying on your own direct experiences. But you cannot base your entire life on that, you must at times induce to solutions, take other people's experiences on trust, accept personal beliefs that you cannot necessarily defend empirically. 

 

Tolerance is just as necessary as critical inquiry, and consensus as important as individualism. 

 

And BTW, welcome to the forums, Caelan 🙂

[Caelan Arendor]

Dear HeavyHalfMoonBlade

 

Thanks for your kind reply. I would like to clarify something here; "faith has at least two quite different implications:

The first  meaning is practical, relational, and evidence-based.

• You have faith in a friend because they’ve proven dependable.

• You have faith that the sun will rise tomorrow.

• You have faith in a scientific theory because it makes reliable prdictions and is peer revied.

The second meaning is more philosophical or religious, often proclaimed in lack of good evidence

• Religious believers might have faith in God even without empirical proof.

• Someone might have faith that “everything happens for a reason” despite no strong evidence.

 

Arguments about “faith” often get messy because one person is using the the first  definition while the other is using the belief-without-evidence definition.

 

Anyways, thanks for your very kind welcome, I still feel a bit lost here (taking into account my limited knowledge of your native language)

 

All the very best, 73 from

Caelan

[Elgee]

What does the "73 from" mean?

 

I've never been a religious person. When I was younger I equated that with being an Atheist, but as I grew older I wasn't so sure anymore. Then I got to know more about hyenas, and now I know there's some form of Creator out there and they really have a weird but wonderful sense of humour.

[Caelan Arendor]

Dear Elgee,

 

In amateur radio (ham radio), the number “73” is a widely used sign-off or greeting that means:

“Best regards” or “best wishes.” 

The use of numerical codes in telegraphy goes back to the 19th century, when telegraph operators used shorthand codes to save time. “73” specifically comes from the Phillips Code, a shorthand system created by telegraphers in 1879.

In morse code you send two dashes followed by three dots, than a little pause and then three dots followed by two dashes. So --... / ...--  Spoken thus: dah dah di di dit  / di di di dah dah

 

Another code would be 88, usually sent by female radio amteurs, meaning: “Love and kisses” (used more in personal messages)

 

I hope I could be of some help!

[Caelan Arendor]

Naturally you have to rely on the knowledge of your ancestors. 

No one can expect you to think through, analyze, and verify the validity of humanity’s scientific achievements from the ground up by yourself.

[HeavyHalfMoonBlade]

The flaw though is to look at it through the eyes of someone that doesn't have faith. 

 

The the idea of if a God is real is a matter of evidence. And also we can make predictions based on what we would expect to see if a God was real (answered prayers, sick people getting better, etc). But by definition, none of that has to do with faith. 

 

Faith is something outside of the experience of someone without it. It is not belief without evidence, but belief despite no evidence. 

 

As I say I'm an empiricist, but faith is completely different than empirical investigation. 

 

It could be argued it is necessary to find meaning in our lives, empiricism does not care a lot for meaning at all.