A Society That Believes In Nothing

This isn't my call for people to run out and join the first religious sect that they can find.  That's not what I advocating.  There are numerous ways in which a person can develop a set of beliefs.  However, I encourage all people to sit down and think about what they truly believe as an individual.  When you turn inwardly, what are the core values that you use to navigate your life?  What are the things that you rely on no matter what?  Keep in mind that this is deeper than some superficial bullshit that you were told was good thing. Instead, what exactly as a human do you believe in?  

Lately I've been able to make two very clear observations about most people in modern society. 1) Most people intrinsically believe in nothing and 2) Those people that say they believe in something don't actually believe in it as their actions usually contradict the thing they say they believe in.  

Studies indicate that people who believe in something; whether it God, a higher power, an ethos or symbol tend to live happier lives and they tend to be more resilient.  In the words of Nietzsche, "He who has a why to live for, can endure almost any how."  So the questions beg, what is the reason you get up in the morning? what is the purpose for this one life you've given yourself?  

Are you able to answer these questions?

Now, if you're thinking something to the effect of, "Well I get up every morning for my family" you've missed the point.  Relying on external sources to provide internal validation is fleeting and unsustainable.  What happens if that family breaks?  What happens if a family member is in a bad mood?  Does your belief now become fractured?  External sources are constantly changing.  How can you maintain your footing on a constantly shifting foundation?

"Well I wake up every day in the pursuit of money."  Again, you've missed the mark.  Do you want to know the single best way to make yourself completely stressed out and miserable?  Try setting the pursuit of money as the number one belief in your life.  Money is never ending.  Once you obtain a certain amount, guess what you do?  You set another amount that you need to obtain.  This doesn't lead to satisfaction.  So ask yourself, why am I working so hard to pursue more and more money?  Well, it's give myself and my family a good life.  So now you're basing a good life on the amount of money you have and the things you can afford?  Doesn't that sound shallow and lacking any true meaning?

"I believe in Science."  Okay, while I too believe in science.  In what capacity do you quantify the things you learn from science?  Do you take everything that current "science" tells you at face value?  I think it's safe to say that in the current climate that, while the science hasn't changed that the interpretation of science has.   Science has been twisted to fit a specific agenda or viewpoint.  This should lead to flaws in accepting it as the foundation of a person's thinking.  What about the things that science has difficulty explaining? or things that occur outside of scientific reason?  For those things what is it that you rely on then to navigate your world?

This is a call to start to ask yourself what you believe in?  

Right now, I observe a complete lack of internal belief development by the vast majority of people.  The issue with this is that in times of crisis, instead of people looking inward to help them cope with their external world.  They look for guidance from the external world for how to behave and think.  Isn't that ass backwards to you? I don't know about you but doesn't it seem silly to rely on external sources to dictate who you are as a person?  Doesn't anyone see how there are potential issues in a society that thinks this way?  Since when have we become so tone deaf to our own voices that we take others' opinions as our own?

This potential for harm in this way of thinking is reflected in society today.  Since the vast majority of people aren't able to articulate their internal beliefs and values they instead derive their beliefs and thinking from the external sources that they come in contact with.  In today's society the loudest external sources are the media and the government.  Two of the most corrupt and manipulative institutions in the existence of modern society.  Does no one see a problem with this?

I think we all owe it to ourselves to start developing our internal beliefs.  Relying on others or the state to dictate how and what we believe in has, throughout history, caused more harm than good.  I don't know about you but I don't want to give someone else that much control over how and what I think and believe.  

Jordan Peterson once said, "If you want to change the world, you should change yourself."  I think we are now at a critical point in society where people need to wake up and start thinking for themselves and developing their own beliefs.  If not, we will continue to be a society that believes in nothing.