The Perils of Faith-Based Logic

I can lay out a path to writing success, say (accurately) that no one who has followed it has failed, and what happens is that people will say “that might work for you, but it wouldn’t work for me. The game is rigged.” And there is no way to convince them otherwise, because all they have to do is say “anyone who can follow that was going to succeed anyway.” The same thing happens with relationship strategies, money-saving, weight loss…anything you can think of. There are damned few sweeping statistical studies on such things. Ultimately, a little faith is required just to get started. Then someone can say “I tried and it didn’t work.” That is then a valid data point. Fear protects itself with intellectual tangles and shields. “I won’t believe it unless…” and mention some standard that cannot be met.

Faith-based reasoning. I am not free of this. I have a faith-based connection to human equality, on the basis of race. Yes, I can discuss the intellectual reasons I believe in it, but ultimately it is faith. The mistake many racists make is assuming that, were I to lose that, I would believe blacks inferior intellectually. Actually, I’d be more likely to assume whites were inferior morally. I can see how someone can amass and interpret information either way, but ultimately…its faith.

Because I see that in myself, it is easy to believe it is present in others as well. That any time you run into intractable arguments on the political level (for instance) you are actually looking at a core faith-based belief that covers some fear, is…