This conversation is closed. Start a new conversation
or join one »
What is the difference between believing and accepting?
Michael Shermer talks about false beliefs. What if we accept rather than believe. Is that different? I think Buddhists would differentiate between the two
Rett lemoult
There may be another side to the two. What if believing stopped you while accepting put your opinions on hold and ready to to change?
Another way of looking at it: what would be the hierarchy of consciousness: believing, accepting, knowing, understanding, experiencing, being... Not in any particular order.)
Linda Taylor 50+
jejomar bargoza
Acceptance means letting go,moving on
Michael M 30+
For me personally, believing has a different depth to it than acceptance. Believing demands a commitment to something, a knowing, but more than that. It means I stake everything on that belief. I think it means taking action on what you truly believe. Being willing to do that is a huge task.
Acceptance on the other hand, again for myself, can be very passive in its nature. It can mean that I have realized something is true. Acceptance can sometimes mean simple resignation to the "fact" out there. I think that acceptance can be active, but it takes work.
I think that is where we often get confused. We assume a fact from authority, nature, or even intuition and never stop and question the fact. We rely on other's perceptions or ideas and accept what they say or think without assuring ourselves that in fact it is true.
I think in terms of Truth and truths. I believe in both. I do think there is Truth that is understandable and knowable. It is to valued and believed and accepted. truths come and go. They go in and out of popularity, the scientific theory proves false, the common understanding is wrong and the truths, disappear or are replaced by others. It is easier for me sometimes, to accept those truths without considering whether are not they actually square with reality.
We need in our lives both of these ways of knowing and acting. Surely what some people believe in is false. What some people accept as true is false. But there are things that are both believable and acceptable. We all need to ask ourselves the question however of how much we believe or accept squares with reality as we see it. That perhaps is another question.
Rett lemoult
I am not a Buddhist but I know Buddha said, "Believe nothing."I think, on the other hand he would champion accepting. What difference does that imply?
Michael M 30+
Here is the complete quote (or close to it maybe).
“Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense.”
Gautama was I think questioning authority, not so much saying "Don't believe anything." I think he was saying make sure what you believe does square with at least your reality, your common sense. Another similar quote from him:
“Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.”
Buddha quotes (Hindu Prince Gautama Siddharta, the founder of Buddhism, 563-483 B.C.)
A person would be totally non-committal to everything, in my understanding, if he truly "believed nothing." Human beings aren't like that. We do commit to ideas and act under what we believe.
Rett lemoult
David Semitekol
Belief is knowing something to be true. You can believe in something but not accept it.
I think when you accept something then it is the final product of belief.
Fletcher Kauffman
In other words, they are degrees along the same continuum to me.
Jamie Barnes
Knowing requires some form of evidence. Believing just requires you have faith in it being correct.Accepting means you believe in it, but not neccessarilly through evidence.
In any cause, the lines can be blurred to see it any which way you want.
Orlando Hawkins 20+
and just like belief, you can accept things w/o have a sufficient reason for doing so...and when I analyzed the definition of both, there was nothing about the definition of acceptance that would suggest that one needed evidence to or sufficient reasons to accept things..
but I do think that to accept things to be true or false does require more reasoning and evidence than belief.
Rett lemoult
Xavier Belvemont 30+
I don't believe that gravity exists. I accept the fact that gravity exists as demonstrated by dropping a pencil.
I believe that someone keeps moving my car keys. I can't verify it, but I believe it.