Wisdom's Hiding Place

We live in a world dominated by belief. We hear, are taught, convinced and converted. We affirm, worship, praise and preach. We argue, persecute and kill for belief. And all of this can happen without a hint of faith in sight. Our failure to understand the difference between faith and belief has always been with us. Problems with belief are not limited to religion; belief affects everything from politics to personal relationships. Here we consider a philosophy of realism. Within realism, we find that not only is faith opposed to belief, faith is a tool of reason whether we are religious or not. Remarkably, the evidence suggests that many popular religious ideas and "myths" began as psychological lessons in realism. Because what we view is so dependent upon how we view, we learn how realism can influence our psychology, inform our values, and reveal a path forward that avoids the pitfalls of belief.