Belief System

A Belief System is a belief set of mutually reinforcing beliefs that provide a framework for understanding and interacting with the world.

• Context:
  • It can (typically) contain a Semantic System, informing its structural and conceptual foundation.
  • It can (typically) shapes the way individuals or groups interpret and respond to experiences.
  • It can (often) influences behavior and decision-making.
  • It can range from being a Formal Belief System to being an Informal Belief System.
  • It can range from being an Agent's Belief System to being an Collective's Belief System.
  • It can be influenced and shaped by cultural tradition, and personal experience.
  • …
• Example(s):
  • An Ethical Belief System, shaping principles of right and wrong.
  • An Absurdist Belief System, focusing on the search for meaning in an irrational universe.
  • An Elevated-Significance Affirming Ideology, such as:
    • A Religious Belief System for an organized religion, forming the basis of faith and religious practice.
      • A Christian Belief System, that includes the belief in the Holy Trinity, the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and the existence of Heaven and Hell.
      • A Buddhist Belief System, that includes the belief in concepts such as "life is marked by suffering," "the cause of suffering is desire," "cessation of suffering is achievable," and "the path to cessation of suffering is the Eightfold Path." These are the core principles encapsulated in the Four Noble Truths of Buddhism.
      • …
  • An Existentialist Belief System, that includes concepts such as "existence precedes essence," implying that individual existence and subjectivity is paramount; "life is fundamentally absurd," suggesting that our search for meaning may never be satisfied; and "we are condemned to be free," positing that each individual has a responsibility to make choices that define their own nature and purpose.
  • A Scientific Belief System, using the scientific method as a way of understanding the world.
  • An Agent Belief System, such as a person's political beliefs or a company's values.
  • A Formal Belief System, like a Mathematical System, where beliefs are defined and operated on by formal rules.
  • A Personal Belief System: such as, an individual's belief system might include beliefs like “hard work leads to success," "it is important to help others," or “everything happens for a reason."
  • A Social Belief System:, such as within a social system like a community or a culture, a belief system might include beliefs such as “respecting elders is important," “marriage is a sacred institution," or “education is a fundamental right." These beliefs guide social norms and behaviors.
  • An Organizational Belief System: such as in a business organization, the belief system might include beliefs such as "the customer is always right," "innovation drives progress," or "employees are our most valuable asset." These beliefs guide the organization's operations and decision-making.
  • An Artificial Intelligence Belief System: e.g. one trained to play chess might have a "belief system" that prioritizes certain strategic principles such as "control the center of the board," "develop your pieces early," or "keep your king safe."
  • And Educational Belief System, such as that of a Montessori Educational System, with beliefs such as "children learn best through hands-on exploration," "self-directed learning fosters a love of learning," or "education should develop the whole person, not just academic skills."
  • A Political Belief System, such as within a democratic political system, there may be beliefs such as "all citizens should have equal voting rights," "government should be transparent and accountable to the people," or "freedom of speech is a fundamental right."
  • A Scientific Belief System that underpins a scientific methodology which includes beliefs such as “hypotheses must be testable and falsifiable," “data must be collected and analyzed empirically” or “experiments must be replicable by others."
  • …
• Counter-Example(s):
  • A Systematic Procedure for Acquiring Knowledge, such as Scientific Method proper.
  • …
• See: Knowledge Base, Ontology, Knowledge Base, Semantic System, Natural Language Understanding System, Justified True Belief, Belief Construct.

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References

2023

• (Wikipedia, 2023) ⇒ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/belief#Belief_systems Retrieved:2023-5-30.
  • A belief system comprises a set of mutually supportive beliefs. The beliefs of any such system can be religious, philosophical, political, ideological, or a combination of these. “A system is an interconnected set of elements that is coherently organized in a way that achieves something." —Donella Meadows (2008) Thinking in Systems: A Primer p.11, as quoted by Tim Rettig (2017) Belief Systems: what they are and how they affect you

2018

• (d'Aspremont, 2018) ⇒ Jean d'Aspremont. (2018). “International Law As a Belief System.” Vol. 133. Cambridge University Press,
  • QUOTE: ... According to the understanding informing the expository framework developed in this book, a belief system is a set of mutually reinforcing beliefs prevalent in a community or society that is not necessarily formalized. ...

2014

• http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/belief_system
  • A system of beliefs.

2013

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belief_system
  • A belief system is a set of mutually supportive beliefs. The beliefs of any such system can be classified as religious, philosophical, ideological or a combination of these. Philosopher Jonathan Glover says that beliefs are always a part of a belief system, and that belief systems are difficult to completely revise.

2012

• (Mitchell, 2012) ⇒ Tom Mitchell. “Never Ending Language Learning." Invited Talk at NAACL Workshop on Knowledge Extraction.
  • Tenet 1: Understanding requires a belief system.

2005

• http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/epistemology/
  • QUOTE: We call this kind of basicality ‘doxastic’ because it makes basicality a function of how your doxastic system (your belief system) is structured. …

    … Finally, foundationalism can be supported by advancing objections to coherentism. One prominent objection is that coherentism somehow fails to ensure that a justified belief system is in contact with reality. This objection derives its force from the fact that fiction can be perfectly coherent. Why think, therefore, that a belief system's coherence is a reason for thinking that the belief in that system tend to be true? Coherentists could respond to this objection by saying that, if a belief system contains beliefs such as "Many of my beliefs have their origin in perceptual experiences" and "My perceptual experiences are reliable", it is reasonable for the subject to think that her belief system brings her into contact with external reality.

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