Yes, of course you do. But what?

What do you believe? And why?

Much of what we believe, you and I, is what we have been told–by someone. It is what we have been told and accepted as true. Julian Assange has said that information flow, however, is not a neutral phenomenon. Information flow is related to the movement of power in a society. That movement of power is too often, and increasingly, invested in effort to control–and to control in such manner as to capture or contain the most valuable resource in a society: human energy.

It may be that the myth of authority is one of the most dangerous and abused superstitions (or beliefs) ever programmed into collective consciousness.

When I began this consideration of the way our belief is manifested in our actions, I was focused on comments by James P. Carse in his book Finite and Infinite Games. Carse mentions that our belief is often used as a weapon against those who do not believe as we do. Belief is, therefore, too often an act of violence.

There was a time when, having accepted what I had been told, my beliefs were fixed and solid like walls of stone. It was a startling and not easy realization to learn belief can be chosen: I can choose what I believe based upon taking thought and upon discovering additional information. (It was also an awakening to discover that I had been sheltered from that realization by those who shape the thoughts of our minds, yours and mine, by deliberately presenting or withholding information.  Censorship can be as damaging as deliberate untruth.)

Is it possible that belief, the ideas we hold in mind about life and existence are not absolutely fixed and unchanging? Is it possible that to be most helpful and to be in alignment with the world and society in which we exist (and to avoid being weaponized) what we believe will evolve as we gain additional information, question, examine,  and integrate that information?

We all believe. What we believe will give our life structure and direction. However, a living, growing, learning individual is not a static entity. Life is a constellation of ever-changing processes and events. As you acquire greater knowledge and develop increased understanding, so must your beliefs continue to evolve. Ken Wilber says that we transcend and include our past selves as we grow toward wisdom. We realize that our past thoughts and actions were the best of which we were capable based upon the information we had at the time.

Is it possible that the most powerful beliefs are the ones that do not contain us like stone walls? We, you and I–indeed, all of us–are not static, limited entities. We are an ever-changing, sometimes expanding, constellation of energies. Is it possible that our continued development–perhaps our survival–is best served by a system of living beliefs, a system of beliefs that expands with us as we grow in wisdom?