Rationalist Vs. Fundamentalist Vs. ???

[Flow With Life]

In this post, I explain how the Rationalist and Fundamentalist are similar (despite seeming to be opposites), and why one should stop seeing beliefs as true/false, but rather as just arbitrary ideas one can pick up and drop off as one sees fit

 

------------------------------------------

 

Both the Rationalist and Fundamentalist accept or reject a belief on the basis of whether it is true or false.

Both assess the truthfulness of a belief by weighing the evidence in support of it against the evidence that contradicts it.

 

The difference lies in the type of evidence that is valued by either.

 

The Rationalist values evidence that appeases their sense of rationality.

In principle, the Rationalist prefers evidence in the form of logical reasoning and empirical evidence.

However, in practice, the Rationalist is content with evidence in the form of hearsay from sources they deem credible (such as scientists, philosophers, atheists, other rationalists, etc.) under the assumption that said sources:

1. also value the same type of evidence
2. adhere to a method by which their evidence conforms to said type
3. are honest
4. share some degree of consensus

 

The Fundamentalist values evidence that appeases their sense of faith.

In principle, the Fundamentalist prefers evidence that reaffirms their faith in whatever ideal they value.

However, in practice, the Fundamentalist is content with evidence in the form of hearsay from sources they deem credible (such as holy texts, religious leaders, their religious community, etc.) under the assumption that said sources:

1. also value the same type of evidence
2. are honest
3. draw from some form of divine inspiration

 

However, despite the difference in the type of evidence valued by either, both the Rationalist and the Fundamentalist share something in common: their main criteria for accepting or rejecting beliefs is based on truthfulness.

 

Enter: the Spiritualist.

The Spiritualist does not accept or reject a belief on the basis of whether it is true or false.

Instead, the Spiritualist accepts or rejects a belief on the basis of whether holding that belief is a benefit or detriment to their well-being.

 

The Spiritualist is not concerned with whether a belief is true or false; there are 4 independent reasons.

 

(1) Firstly, the Spiritualist understands that all evidence is ultimately subjective, never objective.

It is always the individual person who decides whether certain evidence appeases their sensibilities or not (whether it be a sense of rationality or a sense of faith).

Even in the face of consensus, each individual bears the full burden of accepting the evidence for oneself.

One can never delegate the burden of accepting evidence to another person because one is solely responsible for their own mind.

 

(2) Secondly, the Spiritualist sees greater utility to their own well-being in accepting or rejecting beliefs on the basis of whether the belief is a benefit or detriment.

 

The Spiritualist understands that one's beliefs shape their entire perspective on the world, and hence how they interpret experiences.

How one interprets an experience affects how one feels about it.

How one feels about an experience affects how one will react to it.

How one reacts will immediately generate either a sense of relief or stress.

How one reacts will also be reinforced in the mind, and hence repeated in the future, since humans are creatures of habit.

Then if one generates relief or stress, one will continue to generate the same in the future.

Hence, one's beliefs are the cause of the continuous generation of relief or stress.

 

The Spiritualist also understands that one's beliefs are malleable: they can change, and one can deliberately change their own beliefs through effort.

 

Hence, the Spiritualist understands that one should adopt those beliefs which lead to relief, and drop those beliefs which lead to stress.

 

(3) Thirdly, the Spiritualist understands that in order to be able to deliberately change one's own beliefs, one must be willing to adopt and drop beliefs as necessary, with great flexibility "on-the-fly".

The Spiritualist understands that if one accepts or rejects beliefs on the basis of whether it is true or false, one will not be willing to adopt or drop beliefs "on-the-fly":

1. One will be unwilling to adopt a belief unless they receive sufficient evidence in support of it that appeases their sensibilities
2. One will be unwilling to drop a belief unless they receive sufficient evidence in contradiction to it that appeases their sensibilities

 

On the other hand, the Spiritualist is unconcerned with such evidence, their priority is their own well-being.

They use practices that allow them to observe their own emotions, which indicate either relief or stress.

Then they determine the root cause of their relief or stress, which is always a belief.

Then they choose which beliefs to keep, which to drop, which to adopt, and which to keep away.

This is a continuous iterative process, it never ends, and no belief structure is ever final.

 

(4) Fourthly, the Spiritualist is after a stronger form of truth... Truth with a capital "T".

Whatever this Truth is, it cannot be based in evidence which is inherently subjective.

Truth must be groundless, it must be unsupported by anything; it must BE the ground itself, there is no deeper one can go.

If Truth had to have support, then it would not be the deepest Truth, the support for it would be the deepest Truth.

 

The Spiritualist understands that the only way to reach Truth is to consider every perspective, even contradictory perspectives. (I withhold any logical justification for this statement, it kind of has to be taken on faith--until one sees it, in which case, it is self-evident)

 

The Spiritualist understands that if one accepts or rejects beliefs on the basis of whether they are true or false, one will be unwilling to consider every perspective since they are unwilling to adopt or drop beliefs "on-the-fly".

 

------------------------------------------

 

tl;dr Both Rationalist and Fundamentalist care about whether beliefs are true or false based on evidence; the Spiritualist doesn't care about that, they can shift their beliefs around freely to improve their own well-being, they understand that beliefs are never objectively true or false, and that Truth with a capital T has nothing to do with belief or evidence

Edited June 25, 2017 by Flow With Life