can belief change the reality? ( Archived) (7)

A belief can change you.
What changes the reality is the effort you put into doing so...
A thought needs to become an action...

Belief changes perceptions, both yours, and those who hold the same belief. The power of suggestion has been used for centuries to influence or sway people. It is nothing new.

But, we all operate on this daily. We believe the intersection is clear, and safe, so we drive through it. But sometimes, reality comes crashing into the side of our car, because our brain did not have all of the information, namely, that another car was hurling towards ours.

Each of these little perceptions and beliefs allow us to live our day-to-day lives with relative accuracy. But, we know that some are able to perceive more accurately than others: singers, writers, and hopefully doctors, etc. And some are able to change beliefs better than others: actors, politicians, lawyers, writers, "magicians," snake-oil (and other) salesmen, and people in the multimedia world.

So, as any automobile accident demonstrates, reality often changes our beliefs, but it is very rare that belief changes reality (oncoming cars never disappear, just because you believe they don't exist; UFOs don't appear, just because you believe in them).

In Judaism, as with many religions, it is believed that certain people, in the past, had the power to interpret dreams. Some in Judaism state that when the interpreter of dreams interprets the dream, it actually alters the reality of what will happen. This could be the power of suggestion. It could be a form of prophecy. This is where belief comes into play. Those that "believe" in this power, will be awed by it. Those that don't, will offer alternative explanations. But it often comes down to the fact that the alternative explanation requires certain beliefs, as well.

I'm quite a rational person, but there are things that I do believe, but only because I have experienced them directly. They are rare, but life-changing, for most of us. Some people will just ignore such things and dismiss them as some type of hallucination. This is when one enters the realm of objective vs subjective realities. (Or so I believe, no pun intended.;)

Hope this helps. My opinions are my own.

Shalom,
Iyyov