So, beliefs… Why do we form beliefs? Why do we seem to need them so badly?

Meaning. 

To provide coherence among disparate circumstances?

It seems they are a constant source of strife.

A sense of context. Our brains and minds are dependant on inference. They are also a source of group identity, pair bonding, child rearing motivation. Can we live well knowing only what sensations give us pleasure? Or only what sensations give us pain?

I’d love to try the pleasure. You would hate it. Your mind would rebel. Extremes of hedonism lead to pronounced depression.

Like eating too much chocolate….?

I relish the joy and pain.

And if we only knew what would give us pleasure, we would lack any understanding of how to obtain these or sustain a source of supply of pleasure. The resource and our relationship to the resource are clearly different things, no?

So are you what gives you joy?

No.

I want to believe what brings joy…

Is your experience of joy who you are?

Well, in a sense, yes, but my perception of joy is mine. I am pain and sorrow also. It does have a very real biological impact, but you probably want very much to say that you are more than just that.

Yes, we are more than “just” that.

But this paradox is a serious sticking point. We try to identify with our experiences, the particulars, and we wind up feeling lost. Do you know where you are going based on where you have been?

I know not to go there again, if possible. Do you know how to make a choice based only on your experience of past events?

I can’t do that. Everything has too many variables. Can you make a choice? And if so how do you do it? You do it based on inference maybe? Based on beliefs?

I can make a choice but not based on the past.

Your recall of pleasure or pain is not even secondary, it’s tertiary. Is this fair to say?

Not to me. How so? Where am I in error?

I remember some amazing pains,and they influence my choices. You likely also remember why you endured those pains, and would choose to endure some of them again no doubt.

Your thoughts are welcome. Be well friends.

Travis Saunders
Dragon Intuitive
~science,mysticism,spirituality~