Why do people believe in something without facts to support their beliefs?

Answer 1

Well, first, you must understand that the definition of a fact is something that is accepted to be true, based on one's best understanding of that thing. Facts immediately become false if there is ever even one contradiction to the rule, and so what was once widely accepted as truth can become an absolute absurdity overnight. It was once considered a fact that the Sun orbited around the Earth, and that maggots would spontaneously appear on rotting meat, so long as there was a ready supply of oxygen. We now understand that the Earth orbits around the Sun, but had you said that to someone seven hundred years ago, you would have been considered insane.

As for beliefs; a belief is generally placed in something that has few or facts to either support or denounce it. For example, a theory isn't considered to be a fact, as it hasn't yet been sufficiently proven; so a person can only choose to believe that theory until there is enough evidence for it to be accepted as a fact. However, even then, one contradictory result can remove its label as a fact.

In the realm of science, the Big Bang Theory is widely accepted to be true, but it's still labeled as a theory. This is because there is still some shred of doubt that it isn't true, as there isn't yet enough proof for it to be considered a fact. Thus, people can only choose whether or not to believe it is the truth.

In religion, faith is defined as a system of belief which does not require proof. This is because it's considered quite impossible to either prove or disprove influences beyond our own world.

So to sum up my argument, belief is an essential part of our society. Even in regards to accepted facts, as they are only considered facts because we believe them to be so.