Complex Beliefs

As said by many, beliefs define life. They define one’s being, with which I have come to realize how significant our beliefs are. These beliefs also vary from person to person. Based on my perspective, I believe in a lot of things like love, death, sympathy and God even. Validating a particular belief is difficult without deconstructing it. Thus, we must simplify the complex beliefs and determine its supporting beliefs in order to measure its certainty.

I believe that as one lives, one dies. Therefore, it depicts that I believe in life because there can be no death without life. Second, I believe in the law of causation – that there is a cause for every situation. In other words, a certain cause will bring a certain effect. If one lives, one dies. Third, I believe in my existence upon simply having an idea of what life and death is, for thinking is a form of existence. Another supporting belief is experience. Because I have witnessed a person who lived and died, I believe in death and its coexistence – life. I also believe that there are others that exist aside from me because I cannot base an experience without people who lived and faced death. Therefore, other people exist.

Another belief that must be deconstructed is immortality. This shows that I believe in life because immortality consists of eternal life. If there is an eternal life, there must be an eternal being, meaning there is an existence of a person who is not only purely human but particularly an eternal human. It also follows that there are eternal forms like peace, joy and love like the idea of the “eternal being” and the “soul”. With the idea of these immortal forms, then they would probably exist. I am also convinced with the existence of the soul, because that is the only immutable substance of a person which distinctly proves that he is an immortal. Also, it clearly shows that I believe in the after-life, that there is life after the human death. Unsure of what is certainly ahead of us, there must be something in store waiting for the eternal soul, either heaven or hell. Lastly, my belief in immortality also means that I believe in God because He is known to be immortal. Plus, there must be a Higher Being like God that causes all these conceptions of immortality to arise. Therefore, His existence can be synonymous to the existence of immortal life.

Last is the dictum, “I am happy.” This complex belief can be deconstructed by saying that I believe in happiness. Because happiness is not only a state of being and therefore an emotion, I believe that I feel something, meaning I am convinced that I have emotions. Hence, I believe I can feel. This means that there is a cause for what I am feeling. Therefore, I believe that all emotions are also based on the law of causation – a cause produces an effect. There must be a reason why I am feeling happy. One assumption might be that I got a 4.0 in a Philosophy test. Thus, it caused me to feel happy and say “Hey, I am happy.” Another is that I believe in sadness, because I would not be able to clearly understand the concept of happiness without knowing its complement. Consequently, happiness is not permanent therefore; you can be either happy or sad, which then gives room to the existence of sadness. Saying, “I am happy,” means that I know I am happy. It would be necessary to conclude that I can think because I know that I am feeling something. My mind perceives that I am happy, therefore I think. Also, it would not be possible if I believe in emotions and disconsider the fact that I exist because if I think and feel, I must exist.

Above all, these beliefs may or may not be true but they are important for it determines our actions, our choices and even our future. Therefore, it is but necessary to critically validate our beliefs and our knowledge for us to achieve the ultimate truth, even though we cannot and could never be certain.