A PROCEDURE FOR COMPARING BELIEFS
If you are forced to choose between incompatible beliefs, I suggest that you adopt the belief that does the best job of providing the guidance you seek. I know this sounds simple, but, as you’ll see, it’s not. That’s why I developed the following procedure. For the sake of clarity, that procedure assumes that (1) you’ll be comparing two beliefs[1] and that (2) you’re looking to the beliefs you’re comparing to satisfy the same need.[2]
PREPARING TO COMPARE HOW WELL THE BELIEFS IN QUESTION SERVE YOU
1) If you haven’t read The Trouble with Truth and Articles 1-20 and completed the exercises at the end of each numbered article, do so. Unless you’re adequately prepared, the results of this procedure are likely to be misleading or worthless.
2) Obtain a copy of The Periodic Table of the Beliefs with Comparison Tools (hereafter, “the evaluation tool”) by sending a request to barnet.feingold@hotmail.com or barnet.feingold@yahoo.com.
3) Print a copy of that document.
4) Record the competing beliefs in the space provided at the top of the second page of the evaluation tool.
5) In the space provided on the evaluation too, finish the sentence, “I want the belief I choose to tell me . . .” Your first answer should pinpoint the most important issue you hope the belief will help you with. Include additional issues only if they’re nearly as important. Three spaces have been provided.
DETERMINING THE NATURE OF THE GUIDANCE YOU WANT
STEP 1: DETERMINING WHETHER YOU WANT THE BELIEF YOU CHOOSE TO PROVIDE INFORMATION OR REASSURANCE
1) Identify between one and five situations in which you hope the belief you choose will provide you with guidance. Describe those situations in the space provided on the evaluation tool.
2) Identify those situations in which you want the belief you choose to
a) provide information to help you understand the realities of a situation, decide what to expect, figure out how to get things done, evaluate the vices and virtues of a situation, imagine what might be better, or establish goals. Record the number of such situations in the space provided on the evaluation tool.
b) enhance your commitment to openness and objectivity, your ability to deal effectively with reality (including the situation in question), or your devotion to promulgating an ethos that supports and values openness and objectivity. Record the number of such situations in the space provided on the evaluation tool.
c) help you feel more comfortable or confident (i.e., help you feel more informed, competent, powerful, righteous, safe, secure, connected, or valued), albeit without making you more informed, competent, powerful, righteous, safe, secure, connected or valued. Record the number of such situations in the space provided on the evaluation tool.
d) help you contribute to creating, enlarging, or sustaining an ethos, social group, religious group, or political group that supports and values beliefs you find comforting or reassuring . . . or help you feel that you’re doing so. Record the number of such situations in the space provided on the evaluation tool.
2) Tally the number of times you hope that the belief you choose will contribute to a) or b) (i.e., the number of times you described yourself as wanting the belief you choose to provide information), the number of times you described yourself as wanting the belief you choose to contribute to c) or d) (i.e., the number of times you described yourself as wanting the belief you choose to provide reassurance), and the number of times you described yourself as wanting the belief you choose to provide both information and reassurance. Record the number of such situations in the space provided on the evaluation tool.
3) Using that tally, determine whether you want the belief you choose to provide information, reassurance, or both. Check the appropriate box(es) on the evaluation tool.
4) If the exercise above suggests that you hope the belief you choose will be informative, go to STEP 2 (IN); If the exercise above suggests that you hope the belief you choose will be reassuring, go to STEP 2 (REAS).
STEP 2 (IN): DETERMINING THE VIEWPOINT YOU WANT THE BELIEF YOU CHOOSE TO ADDRESS . . . IF YOU WANT THAT BELIEF TO BE INFORMATIVE
1) Ask yourself whether you want the belief you choose to help you:
a) commit yourself to being objective (that is, to being genuine, to creating and sustaining noetic relationships, and/or to facilitating open communication). If so, you want the belief you choose to provide guidance regarding Existential Viewpoint issues. Check the box on the evaluation tool corresponding to that viewpoint.
b) understand the nature of reality. If so, you want the belief you choose to provide guidance regarding Realist Viewpoint issues. Check the box on the evaluation tool corresponding to that viewpoint.
c) accurately judge the goodness of current realities. If so, you want the belief you choose to provide guidance regarding Ethical Viewpoint issues. Check the box on the evaluation tool corresponding to that viewpoint.
d) imagine what improvement or perfection might look like, vividly and with discipline. If so, you want the belief you choose to provide guidance regarding Visionary Viewpoint issues. Check the box on the evaluation tool corresponding to that viewpoint.
e) determine what your visions of improvement or perfection demand of you and/or the constraints they inspire you to ignore when pursuing the improvement or perfection you envision. If so, you want the belief you choose to provide guidance regarding Quest and Commitment Viewpoint issues. Check the box on the evaluation tool corresponding to that viewpoint.
2) Go to STEP 3
STEP 2 (REAS): DETERMINING THE VIEWPOINT YOU WANT THE BELIEF YOU CHOOSE TO ADDRESS . . . IF YOU WANT THAT BELIEF TO BE REASSURING
1) Ask yourself whether you want the belief you choose to help you:
a) become someone who can effectively reassure him/herself (i.e., someone who can confidently cherry-pick facts, distort data and evidence, view fallacy as reason, and/or forge relationships and enforce rules of discourse that support their illusions). If so, you want the belief you choose to provide guidance regarding Existential Viewpoint issues. Check the box on the evaluation tool corresponding to that viewpoint.
b) create the illusion that you understand the nature of reality, especially if that alleged understanding supports moral judgments and other beliefs you find comforting. If so, you want the belief you choose to provide guidance regarding Realist Viewpoint issues. Check the box on the evaluation tool corresponding to that viewpoint.
c) convince yourself that your moral judgments – regardless how questionable or self-serving – accurately reflect the goodness of what you believe to be current realities, make you feel good about yourself (e.g., by supporting visions of perfection you find reassuring), or endorse your desire to see, do, and be whatever you wish. If so, you want the belief you choose to provide guidance regarding Ethical Viewpoint issues. Check the box on the evaluation tool corresponding to that viewpoint.
d) convince yourself that your reassuring visions of perfection, however fanciful and improbable, are thoroughly justified, make you feel good about yourself, and/or justify complete commitment and complete freedom to act any way you might wish. If so, you want the belief you choose to provide guidance regarding Visionary Viewpoint issues. Check the box on the evaluation tool corresponding to that viewpoint.
e) convince yourself that your commitments are right, righteous, and justify anything you might wish to do or be. If so, you want the belief you choose to provide guidance regarding Quest and Commitment Viewpoint issues. Check the box on the evaluation tool corresponding to that viewpoint.
2) Go to STEP 3.
STEP 3: DETERMINING THE PRECISION OF THE GUIDANCE YOU WANT THE BELIEF YOU CHOOSE TO ADDRESS (WHETHER YOU WANT IT TO BE INFORMATIVE OR REASSURING)
1) Reflect on whether you want the belief you choose to provide:
a) guidance that, if followed, makes it likely you’ll achieve your aims. If so, you want the belief you choose to be precise. Check the box on the evaluation tool corresponding to this degree of precision.
b) guidance that, if followed, increases your chances of achieving your goals without necessarily making it likely you’ll succeed. If so, you want the belief you choose to be imprecise. Check the box on the evaluation tool corresponding to this degree of precision.
c) guidance that encourages you to attend to issues that are probably worth your while. . . albeit without providing information about what’s likely to happen or how to achieve your goals. If so, you want the belief you choose to be a rule of thumb. Check the box on the evaluation tool corresponding to this degree of precision.
d) guidance that shapes your values and/or views of reality in ways that make those values and/or views appear true . . . without providing guidance that helps achieve your goals. If so, you want the belief you choose to be a catalytic narrative. Check the box on the evaluation tool corresponding to this degree of precision.
2) Go to STEP 4
STEP 4: SUMMARIZING AND DOCUMENTING THE NATURE OF THE GUIDANCE YOU WANT THE BELIEF YOU CHOOSE TO PROVIDE
1) In the space provided on the evaluation tool, summarize the fundamental need, viewpoint, and precision you hope will characterize the belief you choose.
2) Designate the appropriate cell on The Periodic Table of the Beliefs on the first page of the evaluation tool with a “T” (for “target”).
3) Go to STEP 5A
DETERMINING THE NATURE OF THE GUIDANCE YOUR COMPETING BELIEFS PROVIDE
STEP 5A: DETERMINING THE FUNDAMENTAL NEED(S) SATISFIED BY COMPETING BELIEF #1
1) Use A TOOL TO HELP YOU IDENTIFY THE DESIRE(S) THAT MOTIVATE YOUR BELIEFS, which you can find at the end of Article 7, to determine the need(s) that you look to Competing Belief #1 to satisfy. (A reformatted version of that document, which is easier to print and use, is available from barnet.feingold@hotmail.com or barnet.feingold@yahoo.com.)
2) Check the box or boxes on the evaluation tool that correspond to your findings.
3) Go to STEP 6A.
STEP 6A: DETERMINING THE VIEWPOINT OF THE ISSUE ADDRESSED BY COMPETING BELIEF #1
1) If you view Competing Belief #1 as informative, go to STEP 6A (IN); if you view that belief as reassuring, go to STEP 6A (REAS).
STEP 6A (IN): DETERMINING THE VIEWPOINT OF COMPETING BELIEF #1, IF THAT BELIEF IS INFORMATIVE
1) Ask yourself whether Competing Belief #1 helps you:
a) commit yourself to being objective (that is, to being genuine, to creating and sustaining noetic relationships, and/or to facilitating open communication). If so, that belief provides guidance regarding Existential Viewpoint issues.
b) understand the nature of reality. If so, that belief provides guidance regarding Realist Viewpoint issues.
c) accurately judge the goodness of current realities. If so, that belief provides guidance regarding Ethical Viewpoint issues.
d) imagine, within the constraints of prudence and logic, what improvement or perfection might look like. If so, that belief provides guidance regarding Visionary Viewpoint issues.
e) determine what your visions of improvement or perfection demand of you and/or identify the mundane constraints you can justifiably ignore when pursuing the improvement or perfection you envision. If so, that belief provides guidance regarding Quest and Commitment Viewpoint issues.
2) Enter a tentative check in the box on the evaluation tool corresponding to the viewpoint of the issue(s) Competing Belief #1 appears to address.
3) Identify and document the lower-viewpoint beliefs that support Competing Belief #1.
a) Determine (ideally, with the aid of someone who doubts or disagrees with Competing Belief #1) whether that belief biases the lower-viewpoint beliefs that support it.
i) If Competing Belief #1 does not appear to bias the lower-viewpoint beliefs that support it, affirm the tentative mark on the evaluation tool and go to STEP 7A.
ii) If Competing Belief #1 appears to bias the lower-viewpoint beliefs that support it, erase the tentative mark on the evaluation tool and check the box corresponding to the Existential Viewpoint. Go to STEP 7A.
STEP 6A (REAS): DETERMINING THE VIEWPOINT OF COMPETING BELIEF #1, IF THAT BELIEF IS REASSURING
1) If STEP 5A suggests that Competing Belief #1 provides reassurance, erase the tentative mark on the evaluation tool (if necessary) and check the box corresponding to the Existential Viewpoint. (Note that all reassuring beliefs are proper to the Existential Viewpoint because they bias the lower-viewpoint beliefs that support them.)
2) Go to STEP 7A.
STEP 7A: IDENTIFYING THE PRECISION OF COMPETING BELIEF #1
1) If you consider Competing Belief #1 informative, go to STEP 7A (IN); if you consider Competing Belief #1 reassuring, go to STEP 7A (REAS).
STEP 7A (IN): DETERMINING THE PRECISION OF COMPETING BELIEF #1, IF THAT BELIEF IS INFORMATIVE
1) Reflect on the guidance Competing Belief #1 provides.
a) If it
i) provides guidance that, if followed, promises to make it likely you’ll achieve your aims, it is a precise belief. However, as you’ll see below, that status is conditional.
ii) provides guidance that, if followed, promises to increase the chance that you’ll achieve your goals – without promising to make it likely that you’ll do so, it is an imprecise belief. However, as you’ll see below, that status is conditional.
iii) encourages you to attend to issues that are likely worthwhile to think about – but doesn’t provide guidance about what’s likely to happen or how to achieve your goals, it is a rule of thumb. However, as you’ll see below, that status is conditional.
iv) shapes your values and/or views of reality without providing guidance that helps you achieve your goals, it is a catalytic narrative.
b) Record the conditional precision of the belief by tentatively marking the appropriate box on the evaluation tool.
c) If the belief is catalytic and not already classified as proper to the Existential Viewpoint, reclassify it as Existential.
i) If necessary, change the box checked on the evaluation tool.
d) Use the Periodic Table of the Beliefs to determine whether the viewpoint to which Competing Belief #1 is conditionally assigned can, in fact, be as precise as tentatively claimed. If not, reassess the precision of the belief.
i) If necessary, change the box checked on the evaluation tool.
e) Attend to the ambiguity of the lower-viewpoint beliefs that provide critical grounding for Competing Belief #1. If one of those beliefs is more ambiguous than Competing Belief #1, change (i.e. appropriately reduce) the conditional precision of Competing Belief #1.
f) If necessary, change the box checked on the evaluation tool.
g) Go to STEP 8A.
STEP 7A (REAS): DETERMINING THE PRECISION OF COMPETING BELIEF #1, IF THAT BELIEF IS REASSURING
1) All reassuring beliefs are difficult or impossible to falsify. They are thus appropriately classified as catalytic. Document the precision of Competing Belief #1 by checking the appropriate box on the evaluation tool.
2) Go to STEP 8A.
STEP 8A: SUMMARIZING AND DOCUMENTING THE NATURE OF THE GUIDANCE OFFERED BY COMPETING BELIEF #1
1) In the space provided on the evaluation tool (under STEP 8A), summarize the fundamental need, viewpoint, and precision that characterize Competing Belief #1.
2) Designate the appropriate cell on the Periodic Table of the Beliefs (on the first page of the evaluation tool) with CB#1.
3) Go to STEP 9B.
STEP 9B: DETERMINING THE FUNDAMENTAL NEED(S) SATISFIED BY COMPETING BELIEF #2
1) Use A TOOL TO HELP YOU IDENTIFY THE DESIRE(S) THAT MOTIVATE YOUR BELIEFS, which you can find at the end of Article 7, to determine the need(s) that you look to Competing Belief #2 to satisfy. (A reformatted version of that document, which is easier to print and use, is available from barnet.feingold@hotmail.com or barnet.feingold@yahoo.com.)
2) Check the box or boxes on the evaluation tool that correspond to your findings.
3) Go to STEP 10B.
STEP 10B: DETERMINING THE VIEWPOINT OF THE ISSUE ADDRESSED BY COMPETING BELIEF #2
1) If you view Competing Belief #2 as informative, go to STEP 10B (IN); if you view that belief as reassuring, go to STEP 10B (REAS).
STEP 10B (IN): DETERMINING THE VIEWPOINT OF COMPETING BELIEF #2, IF THAT BELIEF IS INFORMATIVE
1) Ask yourself whether Competing Belief #2 helps you:
a) commit yourself to being objective (that is, to being genuine, to creating and sustaining noetic relationships, and/or to facilitating open communication). If so, that belief provides guidance regarding Existential Viewpoint issues.
b) understand the nature of reality. If so, that belief provides guidance regarding Realist Viewpoint issues.
c) accurately judge the goodness of current realities. If so, that belief provides guidance regarding Ethical Viewpoint issues.
d) imagine, within the constraints of prudence and logic, what improvement or perfection might look like. If so, that belief provides guidance regarding Visionary Viewpoint issues.
e) determine what your visions of improvement or perfection demand of you and/or identify the mundane constraints you can justifiably ignore when pursuing the improvement or perfection you envision. If so, that belief provides guidance regarding Quest and Commitment Viewpoint issues.
2) Enter a tentative check in the box on the evaluation tool corresponding to the viewpoint of the issue(s) Competing Belief #2 appears to address.
3) Identify and document the lower-viewpoint beliefs that support Competing Belief #2.
a) Determine (ideally, with the aid of someone who doubts or disagrees with Competing Belief #2) whether that belief biases the lower-viewpoint beliefs that support it.
i) If Competing Belief #2 does not appear to bias the lower-viewpoint beliefs that support it, affirm the tentative mark on the evaluation tool and go to STEP 11B.
ii) If Competing Belief #2 appears to bias the lower-viewpoint beliefs that support it, erase the tentative mark on the evaluation tool and check the box corresponding to the Existential Viewpoint. Go to STEP 11B.
STEP 10B (REAS): DETERMINING THE VIEWPOINT OF COMPETING BELIEF #2, IF THAT BELIEF IS REASSURING
1) If STEP 9B suggests that Competing Belief #2 provides reassurance, erase the tentative mark on the evaluation tool (if necessary) and check the box corresponding to the Existential Viewpoint. (Note that all reassuring beliefs are proper to the Existential Viewpoint because they bias the lower-viewpoint beliefs that support them.)
2) Go to STEP 11B.
STEP 11B: IDENTIFYING THE PRECISION OF COMPETING BELIEF #2
1) If you consider Competing Belief #2 informative, go to STEP 11B (IN); if you consider Competing Belief #2 reassuring, go to STEP 11B (REAS).
STEP 11B (IN): DETERMINING THE PRECISION OF COMPETING BELIEF #2, IF THAT BELIEF IS INFORMATIVE
1) Reflect on the guidance Competing Belief #2 provides.
a) If it
i) provides guidance that, if followed, promises to make it likely you’ll achieve your aims, it is a precise belief. However, as you’ll see below, that status is conditional.
ii) provides guidance that, if followed, promises to increase the chance that you’ll achieve your goals – without promising to make it likely that you’ll do so, it is an imprecise belief. However, as you’ll see below, that status is conditional.
iii) encourages you to attend to issues that are likely worthwhile to think about – but doesn’t provide guidance about what’s likely to happen or how to achieve your goals, it is a rule of thumb. However, as you’ll see below, that status is conditional.
iv) shapes your values and/or views of reality without providing guidance that helps you achieve your goals, it is a catalytic narrative.
b) Record the conditional precision of the belief by tentatively marking the appropriate box on the evaluation tool.
c) If the belief is catalytic and not already classified as proper to the Existential Viewpoint, reclassify it as Existential.
i) If necessary, change the box checked on the evaluation tool.
d) Use the Periodic Table of the Beliefs to determine whether the viewpoint to which Competing Belief #2 is conditionally assigned can, in fact, be as precise as tentatively claimed. If not, reassess the precision of the belief.
i) If necessary, change the box checked on the evaluation tool.
e) Attend to the ambiguity of the lower-viewpoint beliefs that provide critical grounding for Competing Belief #2. If one of those beliefs is more ambiguous than Competing Belief #2, change (i.e. appropriately reduce) the conditional precision of Competing Belief #2.
f) If necessary, change the box checked on the evaluation tool.
g) Go to STEP 12B.
STEP 11B (REAS): DETERMINING THE PRECISION OF COMPETING BELIEF #2, IF THAT BELIEF IS REASSURING
1) All reassuring beliefs are difficult-to-impossible to falsify. They are thus appropriately classified as catalytic. Document the precision of Competing Belief #2 by checking the appropriate box on the evaluation tool.
2) Go to STEP 12B.
STEP 12B: SUMMARIZING AND DOCUMENTING THE NATURE OF THE GUIDANCE OFFERED BY COMPETING BELIEF #2
1) In the space provided on the evaluation tool (under STEP 12B), summarize the fundamental need, viewpoint, and precision that characterize Competing Belief #2.
2) Designate the appropriate cell on The Periodic Table of the Beliefs (on the first page of the evaluation tool) with CB#2.
3) Go to STEP 13.
STEP 13
1) Using the prompts in STEP 13 on the evaluation tool, reflect on how each competing belief falls short of providing you with the guidance you’re hoping for. Adopt the competing belief with the less consequential shortcomings.
[1] It may easily be adapted to compare additional beliefs.
[2] An approach to choosing between beliefs that you expect to satisfy differing needs will be described in a separate document.