Why do people believe in things that cannot be proved?

Question

God and the literal genesis interpretation are two examples, but I fail to understand why people would continue to believe in any things that are pure allegory, demonstrably fake or plainly idiotic. Ghosts aren't real, David Icke talks a lot of rot, Uri Geller is a fake, crop circles were made by a couple of bored dudes and copied the world over. Some people believe in a god (or gods) but gods are no more likely to exist than (as Bertram Russell put it) there is a china teapot orbitting the sun.

James Randi stilll has a cool million to give to anyone who can prove to have supernatural powers and so far not one person has managed to demonstrate such powers in controlled experiments. Yet people still believe in these charlatans.

WHY!?

Interesting that people would mention god and in particular Pascal's, rather faulty, wager. The wager has four states but that assumes the basic Christian god and it's easily disproved. Prayer is a similar act of self-delusion. I want to know what peple delude themselves this way.

Answer 1

that is because thay are brainwashed when thay where young

Answer 2

Allan H is very correct. There are many things that you know but cannot prove. Even some simple things can only be taken for granted: if nobody saw you throughout yesterday, and you did not take photos, it would be difficult to prove you had a meal.

The issue of God and other spiritual matters are best realized. And like dreams, they cannot be taken from you. That someone else did not have such experiences does not invalidate your own.

The good news is that all of us have to pass through the doubting stage as we move up spiritually. In a way therefore, I am happy for you.

Answer 3

Whoever said God cannot be proved? Things that point to God are all around you. Right before your nose. The problem is not one of proof. It is of a world system built around only the 5 sense even when it is obvious that these are neither total nor adequately explanatory. It is the problem of a proud people (small minds) calling fake what they cannot understand or are unwilling to accept.

Answer 4

There has been a gene discovered that determines how much you believe of the supernatural. I believe it's called VMAT2. Anyway, some people have the gene, in which case they're religious and believe in unproven things, and some people don't, in which case they don't believe in the supernatural.

Furthermore, even though one can't prove God exists, they still can't prove God doesn't exist, either.

And also, prayer or wishing isn't a waste of time. I'm sure you've heard of the Law of Attraction (look it up on WikiPedia if you haven't).

Answer 5

It's very simple it's called faith. And that is real. Also It has been proven that prayer DOES work. Even when non-religious people pray when they are desperate, It works. And as much as we can feel it in our hearts that god is real but can't prove it. I would like to see you try to prove that he doesn't exist. It's ok though he believes in you. That's what really matters anyway.

Answer 6

Because that is one of the most natural things for people to do. Everybody that I know believes in something that are either not yet proven, or can either be disproven, but they just haven't learned that is has been disproven yet.

For example, my mom believes that she is the most honest person she knows, yet whenever she disagrees with anybody about anything, she defends her views with sarcasm, exaggeration, and statements that she couldn't even possibly know the truth of, all of which are examples of being dishonest.

But the same thing is true about anybody who believes in Evolution, because one of the sad but simple facts about the Theory of Evolution, is that it is based upon the Scientific Process, which, every true Scientist knows, is not a method of PROVING anything, but is the process of DISPROVING theories. Just because we can't yet DISPROVE the theory of Evolution does not mean that Evolution is how humans came to be.

And true Scientists, like myself, know that. We know that Science, just like true Religion, is a quest for discovering, learning, and incorporating the truth, regardless of however painful the truth might be for us to accept.

Answer 7

that's a good question. in many circumstances a individual would not believe something till relatively experiencing it or seeing it with their own eyes. This brings me to a narrative. I continually reported," there's no such element as ghost." nicely it so happens I observed something that became into unexplainable. I investigated it as much as achievable, searching for some form of clarification. i could no longer for the existence of me discover any mirrors or techniques or pondered image or different techniques of this "ghost" appearing. I nonetheless to right this moment have inquiries to what became into as quickly as a certainty. i be attentive to what I observed, sparkling and fuzzy, black and white dots making the define or a guy looking like Hitchcock in a tux together with his hand on the back of the chair. i could see him and likewise see ideal via him. It became into in a private domicile, yet looking like the ghost at Disney. Am I loopy? in line with danger! So my ingredient is I observed something that day and appeared to instruct it to myself for my own sanity. yet to right this moment i don't be attentive to what i actually observed, nor do I also have a proof.

Answer 8

Jesus explained Genesis to us in Revelation 12. Eve was the first to be created, not Adam. All Eve's children were born as Jesus was by the Holy Ghost. Eve had 13 children. Adam was the bad seed told of by Jesus in the Gospels.

Jesus told you that spirits (ghost) are real in the story of Lazarus both in John and in Luke.
Jesus also told us about homosexuality, Schizophrenia, autism psychotic behavior and many other mental disorders in the story of The unclean spirit in Matthew 12:43 and 11:24.

It is uncanny that Jesus 2000 years ago told us that we would not understand his words and that we would believe in others who would come in their own names. In your own question you refer to at least 4 others whom you say you don't believe. Who gave them authority?

Jesus said; I come in my Father's name and you believe me not, some one else will come in their own name and you will believe them.Beware of false prophets, and false Christ.

A prophet that comes in the name of a Prophet will receive a prophets reward. John the Baptist is Isiah the greatest prophet of all, but the least in heaven is greater then he

Answer 9

Most things of real worth are beyond proof.
Youi can prove sex but not love
You cannot 'prove' faithfulness, integrity, compassion, etc.
BUT you can experience them and recognise them.

If you could prove God, then he would have to be within the grasp of human understanding, therefore, by very definition, could not be God.
No one should say "It is certain" but you can say "I am certain"

By the same token, the only way you could demobstrate God to be fake would to know everything (Do you claim that?)

Answer 10

It makes more sense to believe in God than to not believe. If you believe, and God exists, you will be rewarded in the afterlife. If you do not believe, and He exists, you will be punished for your disbelief. If He does not exist, you have lost nothing either way.

This is know as Pascal's Wager. In other words

Therefore, we are faced with the following possibilities:

You believe in God.
If God exists, you go to heaven: your gain is infinite.
If God does not exist, your loss (the investment in your mistaken belief) is finite and therefore negligible.

You do not believe in God.
If God exists, you go to hell: your loss is infinite.
If God does not exist, your gain is finite and therefore negligible.

Answer 11

people believe because for many of them, their prayers have been answered. also, we need to have something to hold onto. if there is no god, or no higher purpose, then what is the point of trying to be the best person you can be youmight as well just go out robbing banks or something