(October 4, 2014 at 5:13 am)jesus_wept Wrote:(October 4, 2014 at 5:04 am)satsujin Wrote: My idea of belief is this: Something I think is true or not without a basis of personal experience. We only know something is true when we personally experience it.
So, if personal experience is all that's needed, hallucinations and delusions are "true"?
No, but this is where the bridge between knowledge and belief begins to show. I have had what I believe is a personal experience. However, I have my doubts to whether it was just a psychosis instead since I have a history of that. Unlike what I had as psychosis before though I know this experience was beneficial, long lasting and did not lead to my hospitalization. It took the form of thoughts in my head I didn't think. I don't think you can appreciate the realism until you actually experience it yourself.
In the end though, any skeptic can dismiss what he experiences as unreal if it doesn't match his current belief system.
