Why do people need proof inorder for something to exist?

Question

I am asking this question because the greatest discoveries in history has happened because one person(INSANE) believed it to be true. Yet society teaches us to go with the grain, and admire those who took the chance.

Answer 1

First off - something either exists or it doesn't. You're not asking about the existence of something, but rather about people's belief in it.

Why do people need proof in order to believe that something exist? Well, obviously they don't because they have believed in so many different things over the millenia. However, I would say they SHOULD need proof simply because people are capable of deceiving each other - or being deceived by their own common sense and culture. Common sense says that if you drop a bowling ball and an ink pen one will fall faster than the other - this isn't true by the way, the acceleration due to gravity is the same for both. Similarly, from our point of view it looks like the sun travels in an arc across the sky. Science proved this wrong, and eventually spacecraft seconded the motion!

I strongly suspect that in some ways you are getting things backwards.

Gallileo, for example, believed that the earth must rotate around the sun based on scientific and mathematical evidence (he got the idea from Copernicus). The people who thought he was insane believed so because he was challenging their faith in things they couldn't see. Similarly, when Columbus crossed the ocean, most scientists already knew the earth was round (they had as far back as the early greeks) it was superstitious sailors and merchants that thought he was insane - again, because of belief in things they couldn't prove. So really, the greatest discoveries in history happened because someone "proved" that what most people believed in (without proof beyond apparent common sense) to be false.

All societies will want you to go with the grain in order to maintain the status quo - the greatest discoveries will happen when people think about the world around them (and what people tell them about it) and then look for both proof and disproof until the best answer becomes clear.

Answer 2

These greatest discoveries became great not because someone believed it, but because they were proved to be true. There are so many things that people believed to be true that have since been proven to be false.

Look at evolution. Evolution in general has been proven by science beyond any possible doubt. This also includes the evolution of humans from apes, although we are missing some of the exact details, which is understandable being that we are looking at fossils going back to as much as 10 million years old. But many people would rather believe creation stories written thousands of years ago before we had modern science to give us a better idea of what really happened. And even if all of the Christian religions are lumped together, no matter what you believe (or don't believe), a minimum of 67% of the population on earth will think you are wrong.

I think people should have the right to believe whatever they want to be true, but before we as a society ask others to believe it is true, there should be proof or at least very strong scientific evidence to support it.

Answer 3

Very true. Plato, Socrates, Einstein, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Edison... the world's greatest inventors/scientists. Yeah, granted they don't really have the degree, they all had theories and were believed at one point to be complete hacks, until they have proven themselves. Forget society and live by your own principles. If you make a discovery, show the world. As it's been said before "You'll never know if you don't try". We need more inventors and scientists. Not like the ones of the world of today, but the ones from centuries and decades ago. They are the ones who have truly "thought outside the box" and brought us to where we are today. Inventions help and hinder the world as well, so be careful what you bring to light. All good things are like a double-edged sword, however. You have electricity, which can either fry out your brains or power your computer. You have gas, which can either cause deadly explosions or power your car. Remember: Without yesterday, there could be no today.

Answer 4

Irregardless of what people think and want. There is a possibility in our world for something to be equally true for 2 different people but not the same thing at all.

As a whole we have argued our way into a mess of similarities. However any one with even a general knowledge of electro-magnetics and quantum mechanics can at least theoretically understand that the universe is unlimited. When people begin to understand that unconditional love is the path to unlimited potential and the ability to have a different reality there will be changes.

We will be able to see things differently for real without others argueing for our limits on what we experience.

Answer 5

Thats because you should never just believe what somebody tells you. If somebody says " Elephants like bubble gum", you wouldn't just go out and buy gum for an elephant. You'd want to see it proved. Thats because people aren't ignorant, and they aren't just going to nod thier heads. If something is true, it will have proof.

Like, how parents tell thier kids that if you make an ugly face, it will stay that way. All kids test that theory. Now, it somebody says that the solar system revolves around pluto, would you just naturally agree? No, you'd want to know why and how. If they can't prove it, why should you believe it exists? If you didn't, a person would just make up things and everyone would believe them. NOT GOOD!

Answer 6

Two primary reasons:
1. Thought process is programmed and the mind can not go beyond that programmed thinking. The mind tends to create concepts easily of what it perceives.
2. No willing ness or will power to think outside the box to see the possibilities.

Answer 7

Not the same thing at all. Heterodoxy vs. orthodoxy is not the same as religion vs. science. Valid models of reality must be testable (falsficable),

(physical reality) - (empirical reality) = faith

Faith is destroyed if it works. If you have faith you can only be denied. Test of faith! What can be asserted without evidence can also be dismissed without evidence.

1)That which supports religion supports religion.
2)That which ignores religion supports religion.
3)That which contradicts religion supports religion - test of faith!
4)Anybody who criticizes is thereby proven unqualified to comment - and must be destroyed lest god(s) take offense.

That is a truly crappy and useless belief system. Dominus et magister noster Iesus Christus dicendo "Poenitentiam agite adpropinquavit enim regnum caelorum" omnem vitam fidelium penitentiam esse voluit. Riiight. That will not get you flush toilets.

Answer 8

We are told we live in an infinite universe, yet we, as human, see our own world in finite terms, that is with certain limits. Therefore, we need proof before we make a determination. It is as it should be in our world: we must "know" rather than simply believe.

Answer 9

it is hard to believe in something when you can't see what it does. if you believe something to be true, you just need to go with that and find people who support you. if you're around negative energy it will be more difficult to believe