Faith - Adam

Faith has been shown to be sheer, raw belief and trust in a person/idea/object whilst simultaneously, is a more of an emotional than rational investment. It gives guidance, hope, and a boost in morality whilst the concept of faith itself is able to feed a hunger of curiosity.

It is reasonable to state that when an individual has a lack of knowledge, he/she replaces it with faith and superstition. It is possibly why many have dubbed faith as a substitute into what science cannot explain. When science cannot firmly conclude the origin of the universe with complete accuracy, people with faith through religion provide a substituting explanation (like God created the world in 7 days). This doesn’t mean that the creation story is false because science has not come up with evidence to suggest otherwise. Yet such a substitute without scientific verification can have its limitations.

When faith completely takes control over a person, it becomes difficult to eradicate and becomes contagious. When such a situation occurs, using faith to seek or gain knowledge is a major drawback. Becoming too dependent on faith in seeking/gaining knowledge can ignore the fundamentals of evidence in which science is greatly dependent upon. A strong feeling that something is true doesn’t necessarily always make it true. Even though there are times when that ‘gut feeling’ can be true, when compared to evidence, does not make it seem as a reliable ‘way of knowing’ to seek or gain knowledge. Like many beliefs, faith-based claims can be mistaken and we may hold them to be truthful only because of time and experience. Yet, as we become exposed to real evidence, claims from faith we once knew suddenly become unreliable.

But that doesn’t mean faith is completely useless. Faith is an emotional investment. When we have faith in something, we put an emotional connection into it. Faith provides the opportunity for an individual to strengthen themselves morally and hold onto an optimistic approach when dealing with situations. Faith allows people to hold a secure and reinforced state of mind into what they believe; and for some, present the opportunity to push past struggles. In a way, faith provides the opportunity to assist in the gaining of knowledge rather than discovery/gaining of knowledge. If a mathematician developed a new theory backed up with evidence, he/she would use faith to create a sense of desire and optimism – that the theory will be verified and even if proven wrong, will be continually improved upon.