Belief vs. Knowledge

This past class, we began to discuss the difference between belief and knowledge. This discussion really got me thinking about my own definition of these two terms, both of which play such a large part in my life.

If you take a step back, what we know and what we believe are two things that come to define us and how we relate to others in the world. For example, when we are of a certain faith, we relate more to the people who share that similar faith with us - those who believe in the same things. Those who believe things entirely different from us are not as easy to establish a relationship with because overcoming differences often proves harder than accepting similarities.

Knowledge, on the other hand, can be viewed as a tangible piece of our world - it implies understanding and an underlying search for truth. Every human has a natural tendency to search for knowledge and truth in their everyday lives. Our society has come to define knowledge as intelligence, or how much we understand the inner workings of the world in which we live. It seems as though our beliefs have almost lost their significance in the modern world - where everyone strives to find certainty within the tangible realm of the universe.

In my opinion, our beliefs hold a special importance in our lives because they serve as a reminder that we are human and cannot know all. There are some things about our world that must be left unknown, leaving us with a freedom to form our own opinions about them - whether they turn out to be true or not in the end does not matter. Everyone needs to establish their own set of beliefs, because our beliefs come to define us in a unique sense. Every person can learn the same, invariable facts, but beliefs offer us the chance to see the world through in our own way- and this is something that is worth taking advantage of.