Guest guest Posted August 1, 2004 Report Share Posted August 1, 2004 Peace and Blessings to All, I've been pondering beliefs and their origins. I understand that most beliefs are acquired through experience. My question is, could there be beliefs that are inherent and not learned? - FrankE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 12, 2004 Report Share Posted August 12, 2004 FrankE... > I've been pondering beliefs and their origins. I understand > that most beliefs are acquired through experience. My question > is, could there be beliefs that are inherent and not learned? The standard belief about beliefs is that we learn them from modeling our parents and observing others in our culture. Don Miguel Ruiz ( " The Four Agreements " ) calls the process " domestication. " Most sociologists and psychologists would call it " socialization. " In general, we learn to believe what the adults around us believe, and we do so without direct " experience. " We accept what they tell us as true without any direct experience. Individuals believed that the world was flat for a very long time simply because that's what everyone said. Individual life experiences, especially significant ones, may refine and even counter cultural and parental beliefs. Copernicus and Galileo had experiences that led them to a new belief, but it took a while before the rest of us changed our beliefs to correspond with the real nature of the planet. What exactly are you thinking of when you say " inherent " ? Are you asking whether we bring beliefs into this lifetime based on past life experiences? We know that babies are born with two fears: the fear of falling and the fear of loud noises. All other fears are learned somewhere along the way. Whether they also have certain beliefs wired into their genetic code is a good question. ______________________________ Joel P. Bowman, Ph.D. Haworth College of Business Western Michigan University Kalamazoo, MI 49008 Voice: 269-387-5358 Fax: 269-387-5710 http://homepages.wmich.edu/~bowman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 12, 2004 Report Share Posted August 12, 2004 Joel, Yes, that is my question exactly. Are we somehow wired with beliefs from other lifetimes? I've been reading " Thinking and Destiny " by Harold Percival and he has an interesting theory that we bring to each lifetime thoughts/beliefs that need to be balanced. If his theory holds true, than we are wired for certain beliefs that play out and balance in our lifetimes. Just pondering the nature vs. nurture when it comes to beliefs and their origins. Thank you for your response. - FrankE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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