If you have Faith in something, does it make it True? (My thoughts on Think and Grow Rich Chapter 3 - Faith)

If you haven’t yet, check out my review of “Think and Grow Rich” Chapter 3 (link here). Napoleon Hill talks about Faith. As you can imagine, Faith is a BIG topic for someone interested in Psychiatry and Religion. I discuss Napoleon Hill’s concept of Faith and compare it to the traditional notions of Faith.

What is the relationship between Faith and Truth?​

If you have Faith in something, does it make it True? On the contrary, if you have Faith in something, is it necessarily Untrue? Can you have Faith in something you know for a fact to be True? And, therefore, what is the relationship of Faith to Reality?

Pffftt…Why do you think I have the answer to those questions? Haha.

I’ve seen people take two extremes when it comes to an understanding of Faith.

• Faith is something you have when you do not have enough evidence to support belief. Therefore, Faith can only exist when the belief has a high chance of being false.

• Faith is something you have when you have extreme conviction that it is true. This extreme conviction is something indescribable, but highly reliable.

They’re not exactly the opposite. These two ideas can actually exist at the same time. However, I’ve always been troubled when Faith is described in this way. We’re treating Faith as a truth proposition, not what it’s truly made for: Taking Action During Times of Uncertainty.

We are limited human beings with limited perspectives. Thus, we will never have the totality of truth at our disposal. It is easy to act when we have sufficient facts on a decision (What soda should I try? What phone should I buy? How do I get to work?) However, what do we do when we don’t have sufficient facts?

Here’s a better question: How do you consistently make decisions during times of great uncertainty where, on average, you come out with better outcomes in a consistent manner?​

If you could do that, you would be a High Performer.

Faith helps us make decisions during times of great uncertainty. However, WHAT you have faith in will drastically differ from person to person. As a result, the outcomes will greatly differ as well.

What do you put your Faith in?

What happens if you are a High Performer with a Close Connection to a Higher Power?