Ask HN: What do you believe is true even though you can't prove it?

[lukeqsee]

In the last ~week we've have a number of religion/belief/lack-thereof posts, this question is simple extrapolation.

As said in the title, the question is: "What do you believe is true even though you can't prove it?"

Maybe you can explain with an answer as to why?

(Let's not debate with each other, but rather sit back and listen to each other.)

Thanks to michael_dorfman for the tip on the exact question. :)

[maxdemarzi]

I don't believe in discussing Religious Beliefs in HN, because I'm already spending enough time on here instead of working on my start-up, learned from time spent reading threads that do not have to do with entrepreneurship or technology.

[lukeqsee]

HN is for anything interesting to "hackers." From the sheer number of comments on the previous posts, it seem it is interesting to them.

[mindcrime]

I don't believe in any sort of anthropomorphic "God" that actively manipulates human affairs and is responsible for creating the universe, etc. Now if you want to use "God" as a sort of label for some vague concept of "whatever we don't know, and will probably never know, about how the universe came to be, and why the laws of physics are what they are" etc., then sure, talk about "God" all you want. Personally it's not something I find to be particularly relevant to my day to day life.

Why do I believe this? Because incredible claims require incredible proof, and I haven't seen any proof for any of the claims about deities that various religions make, that don't have a better answer rooted in scientific knowledge. And while I don't hold science to be perfect, I find it more credible because science makes testable predictions, whose results have allowed us to manipulate the world we live in, in tangible ways. See: electricity, automobiles, jet airplanes, cruise ships, etc., etc.

[microtonal]

Rebirth (at least from daily perception, I ultimately believe that consciousness does not cease with death, but 'attaches' to new organisms with perception), and enlightenment (the cessation of clinging to phenomena).

Very hard, if not impossible, to prove scientifically, although there has been interesting research into this very topic (http://tinyurl.com/36avxgq). But, I have no idea how memories from 'previous lives' would fit into this.

[sbe]

I believe humans will eventually be able to live forever.

Why? I believe our knowledge of biological systems will advance to the point that they can be accurately simulated on a computer within 10-15 years. That will greatly reduce the time it takes to perform experiments (e.g., from months to hours) and take advantage of the knowledge they provide.

At that rate, it's highly probable that a method to prevent--and reverse--biological aging will be discovered.

[michael_dorfman]

I think your example undercuts the concept.

"Belief" is usually contrasted with "knowledge". If science has proven something, there's no need to believe it-- you simply know it.

So, a more focused question might be: "What do you believe is true even though you can't prove it?"

EDGE asked precisely this question of some interesting people, with interesting results: http://www.edge.org/q2005/q05_print.html

[lukeqsee]

Thank you. My mistake. :)

[kineticac]

I believe there are "aliens" of some sort out there. At least some kind of life. What kind of life, I'm not too sure, but there's just too many possibilities for there NOT to be any life. Who knows really how big our galaxy is? How many galaxies there are? And what's beyond that? If we exist somehow, there's gotta be more.

[davidstuart]

I believe in causality, even though I can't prove it. I believe in it for the same reason I have religious beliefs; I want to believe it. My life as a scientist would be pointless if causality were not true.

[kasharoo]

I believe I'm a p-zombie, but I don't have the consciousness to prove it.