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If you arrange beliefs on a spectrum from upper level to lower level, like from "this economic policy is superior" down to "my friends like me" down to "I can walk" down to "object permanence" etc.., what is the lowest belief you can identify holding?

Aella

@Aella_Girl

Also probably worth asking what your definition of "belief" is

9:58 PM · Sep 22, 2019

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Lowest level: I think about therefore I am and have free will. Belief is something you think is true.

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This is the kind of question that opens the gates tho

GIF

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That's what I was going to say I wouldn't classify "object permanence" as a _belief_, really

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Oh I was just trying to interpret your definition from your examples. My own definition of a belief is just something that I accept as reality without proof or sometimes even evidence. The answer remains the same though.

Dr Kate Storrs in NZ!

@katestorrs

Sep 22, 2019

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@Aella_Girl

A simple definition which could apply to all of these is "something which would cause surprise, if contradictory information arrived" - eg, when you stumble on a step, you reveal your belief that the step was going to be lower than it actually is.

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musing: at low levels, belief is indistinguishable from perception. But perception systems aren't unified, you can know something is an illusion but be still fooled by senses.