Do you believe in your thoughts?

[Savage]

Do you believe in your thoughts?

Please mark the box that fits best with your point of view?

Thank you very much.




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[svin]

Do you mean if we are honest with ourselves?

[Marcus Marulus]

Mostly yes, which can sometimes be a problem.

[Savorgnan]

Yes, so much! Being right over billions humans is one of my commonest feelings. I can even lose my survival instinct.

[FlashVoyager]

Do my thoughts believe in me?

[gazumpiro]

If I don't believe in my own thoughts, then who else will?

I voted "always", for I truest my convictions.

[Céleste]

I guess in our modern society man has forgotten to really act accordingly to his feelings and thougts. Nearly everybody is manipulated by the spirit of the age (zeitgeist).That is a really complicated topic.

As far as I am concerned I guess I believe in my thought mechanically. After all I behaved right in some situations without knowing it in these special moments..sounds very weird, doesn't it?

[Kalevi]

At the moment I'm drunk like every decent Finn still up at this time, so yes - and no.

Greek Ouzo kicks some serious ass..

[Lutiferre]

Originally Posted by Savage

Do you believe in your thoughts?

We as humans think that we have free will - so we perceive our thoughts as something we create ourselves. Reflecting upon whether we "believe" our thoughts is absurd. It is not a question of believing or not, it is simply a question of which thoughts you are having. Believing something can mean many things, therefore the question becomes irrelevant, if trying to practically consider it. For an example, if you see a person on a street, and you recognize him, and think "he is an asshole", you have simply made a subjective assertion, and since you perceive it as yours, there is no reason to question whether you "believe it". It is there, it is not about belief, it is just your mind.

[Jejunity]

How is possible to not "believe in your thoughts"? It implies a paradox, an infinite regress: doubting your own thoughts is in itself a thought, which must therefore be doubted also—maybe you were wrong to doubt yourself?—and whatever conclusion you come to must then also be doubted &c. &c. You end up a short-circuited solipsist.

[Monolith]

Originally Posted by Jejunity

How is possible to not "believe in your thoughts"?

In my opinion, if people constantly believed in their thoughts, no progress could ever be achieved. The wheel, the pyramids and the spaceships would never be invented. As human beings, we thrive ever forward by questioning our thoughts, thus creating place for new ideas.

So my answer is no. I always take my thoughts with a pinch of salt.

[Lutiferre]

Originally Posted by Monolith

In my opinion, if people constantly believed in their thoughts, any progress would be virtually impossible. The wheel, the pyramids and the spaceships would never be invented. As human beings, we thrive ever forward by questioning our thoughts, thus creating place for new ideas.

So my answer is no. I always take my thoughts with a pinch of salt.

But I think Jejunitys point still stands. After all, with what do you question your thoughts? Thoughts. Thoughts are the medium, not the content.

[Marcus Marulus]

Originally Posted by Monolith

In my opinion, if people constantly believed in their thoughts, no progress could ever be achieved. The wheel, the pyramids and the spaceships would never be invented. As human beings, we thrive ever forward by questioning our thoughts, thus creating place for new ideas.

You are talking here about developing new thoughts instead of old ones or about improving the old ones. So it boils down to the same.

It is important to believe in your own's thoughts in the sense of never allowing yourself to become a conformist, that is, to accept some generally imposed ideas of your society as your own thoughts. This is particularly important today, as the current societies are extremely flawed and promote lie virtually at every corner.

[Monolith]

Originally Posted by Lutiferre

But I think Jejunitys point still stands. After all, with what do you question your thoughts? Thoughts. Thoughts are the medium, not the content.

True. I did not say that I never believe my thoughts, but I never take them for granted. Actually, this is pretty much what I think:

Originally Posted by Marulus

It is important to believe in your own's thoughts in the sense of never allowing yourself to become a conformist, that is, to accept some generally imposed ideas of your society as your own thoughts. This is particularly important today, as the current societies are extremely flawed and promote lie virtually at every corner.

[Jejunity]

Originally Posted by Monolith

In my opinion, if people constantly believed in their thoughts, no progress could ever be achieved. The wheel, the pyramids and the spaceships would never be invented. As human beings, we thrive ever forward by questioning our thoughts, thus creating place for new ideas.

Maybe, but that is not the kind of questioning I was referring to; my interpretation of the question was more formal and my answer more epistemological than psychological. I was being somewhat obtuse, I admit, as this is not the philosophy forum.

[Lutiferre]

Perhaps one should interpret this thread as more something along the lines of: do you believe in your own ideas. Believing in ones owns thoughts is an ambiguous question as we can see, that leads to things such as questions of mental health and more technical, epistemological considerations such as those of Jejunity.