They knew many things but had no idea why. And strangely this made them more, rather than less, certain that they were right.

About This Quote

They knew many things but had no idea why. And strangely this made them more, rather than less, certain that they were right, is a very common observation used to sum up the nature of religious faith. There is a belief that we should not only know the answer to all our questions, but also understand the reason behind them. If we merely accept something as true without understanding how it came to be true, we cannot possibly gain any benefit from it. If we gain peace and joy and happiness and other positive feelings from believing something is true because it makes us feel good or brings us comfort or makes us happy or whatever, without understanding why it would make us feel good or why it would bring us comfort or what real benefits we would get from believing it, then we can be sure that we are not gaining anything from such belief.

Source: Anathem

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