Precursive faith is not always appropiate; the option to believe must be a "genuine option" that cannot be decided on the basis of evidence alone.
A "genuine option" is defined as an option that is live, forced, and momentous. An option is live when it is in the realm of possibility. Believing I can bring spiritual enlightenment to many people is certainly live, whereas believing that I can fly like Superman is not.
An option is forced when not choosing to believe it--that is, not even considering the question--is equivalent in consequences to a negative choice. Not choosing to believe I am the Savior has the same consequence as choosing that I am not the Savior.
An option to believe is momentous when the stakes are high, and much is to be lost if you do not grant a measure of truth to the proposition. My option to believe that I am the Messiah is, of course, very momentous because the lives and well-being of six billion people plus are at stake. :-\
I believe William James to be correct in his precursive faith theory here, because my choice to believe I am Messiah fits well the precursive faith ticket to belief. My choice to believe this is within the bounds of believability (live), such that my not choosing is the same as my choosing that I am not (forced), and of worldwide import (momentous). This means that I rationally choose to believe I am the Messiah even without sufficient evidence (no evidence derived of sense experience, memory, or testimony). My choice made with precursive faith, (based on trinkets of affirmation recieved from often unexpected sources) shall reach the attention of many unexpected ears, and the world shall be better for this. *L*
Come to think about it, "The Rescue" was fueled by my precursive faith in my destiny. Since I described the event in detail in My Endless Quest, I shall not repeat myself here, but will analyze the presence of precursive faith in my subconscious psyche that long night of Saturday May 5, 2001. As I wrote in this manuscript's introduction, I just knew I had to quickly drive to Aloha Tower Marketplace to somehow rescue an anonymous female admirer. Choosing to believe the cry for help was a "genuine option" because the choice was live (I knew "The Rescue" would be physically possible), forced (not choosing-suspending judgement of the choice-would have the same consequence as choosing not to rescue the distressed woman), and momentous ("The Rescue" meant life or death).
Since I lacked sufficient evidence for my belief, I was unable to convince the Aloha Tower Marketplace security guards or the Honolulu Police Department patrol officers along Ala Moana boulevard of the dire consequences my unknown admirer face. :-\ They chased me away from the waterfront shopping and dining plaza and the adjacent street, so I decided-very reluctantly- to return home.
No comments:
Post a Comment