Belief versus Conclusion

Please read the “About and Disclaimer” page.

For the sake of understanding this article, let belief refer to the accepting of an idea as reality, thinking as merely possessing that idea, and conviction as merely one’s logical (or illogical) conclusion to presented ideas. (Notably, conviction usually refers to belief, but I don’t have another word at the moment for the concept that I’m trying to clarify belief is not.)

To explain the difference, imagine you are standing on top of a four-story building that is on fire and on the ground below are firefighters holding a trampoline or net to catch you if you jump. You may have come to the logical conclusion that the net will hold you and the fire will kill you, but that alone will not overcome your fear of injury from falling. If you believe you will be safe, then you will jump (assuming you want to escape from the fire).

Perfect belief overcomes fear. Conviction (as defined above) does not; it merely argues non-stop with it.