Belief We all believe in something or someone. We must believe, just as we must eat, sleep, and reproduce. Mankind has an insatiable need for and an irresistible attraction to a vast array of beliefs about gods and demons, magic and miracles, truth and falsehood, love and hate, similarity and difference. Implausible, even irrational ideas, have been cherished for centuries. Saints and other martyrs suffered indescribable pain and agony, even death, for their beliefs. Scientists have been put to death for their belief that the earth is round, or that there is an invisible force called gravity, or that the earth is not the center of the universe with the sun revolving around it, or that the blood circulates throughout the body, or that Man evolving around it, or that the blood circulates throughout the body, or that Man evolved from lower forms of life. Religious leaders have attracted millions of people with their version of how life began and how we must behave. If people do not believe in medicine and science, religion, education, government, and the social con- tract, chaos results and no society can tolerate that, which is why all societies impose order on their members. We must believe or face unbearable ambiguity and anxiety. Belief is faith and faith is trust and trust is security, predictability. Fear and hope are the twins that shape belief. We fear death, our enemies, illness, the known, the unknown, and punishment. Hope tells us that things will improve. We will not be defeated. We will succeed. It promises us a good life here and after death. Fear persuades us to believe that we can be protected, safe, if we join a group whose god is capable of holding evil at bay, then I cling to that group. We dare not, not believe. Furthermore, belief confers upon believers a special status: those who know the truth. Many people believe that their faith will help them to overcome sickness, fear, sorrow, joy, grief ect. , each trigger specific endocrinal secretions--hormones and neurotransmitters (adrenalin, serotonin or dopamine) that modify behavior. In order to control this torrent of endocrinal activity, many people turn to their faith because it convinces them that things will improve and that positive attitude cures the body to fight the invading bacteria or virus. Mind and body are totally integrated, supporting the notion that belief (faith) is a very powerful emotional force affecting physical behavior. Is the most effective belief system one that is composed of absolutes--unyielding, unvarying and eternal? The answer is yes, because when we eliminate doubt from a situation we feel secure, restored to balance, but if the belief system is science and is based on objective information without absolutes and requires a questioning attitude, not an accepting one as in most belief systems it unnerves people. They cannot handle the uncertainty, the lack of a God or some omnipotent overseer who eliminates doubt and reassures us that all is well and under control. Any system that offers definitive answers to complex human questions and problems: this is right, this is wrong, this is true, this is false--one question, one answer only, is very appealing. All beliefs require confirmation from an authoritative source whether that be a priest, a rabbi, a shaman, a family member, a special friend, an expert--one who commands obedience and respect an authenticator. Perhaps all belief is composed of the same elements in approximately the same proportions for even science requires a suspension of some disbelief, some uncertainty, however miniscule. Black Holes and the Big Bang are metaphoric truths derived from the physics we know now. But you have to believe, to have faith in the methods of science to gather information, to analyse and interpret it objectively in order to accept its conclusions. No one witnessed the Big Bang, or a Black Hole. These were inferred from careful stud