Belief and Evidence

It appears that when we do something for the very-first-time, there can be no empirical evidence to support our individual ability to do such a thing successfully, regardless of what it may be. Empirical evidence, of course, being evidence which is derived solely from experience. There may indeed be evidence which suggests that someone else can or has done something similar or exact, but there is no empirical reason to conclude that “someone else has done it, therefore so can I.” Thus, we cannot have any personal experiential grounds to support our ability to do something if we are attempting to do it for the very-first-time, nor can we appeal to the experience of others as evidence of our own abilities. In other words, when we set out to do something for the very-first-time, there is no empirical reason for us to believe that we can do such a thing. And yet somehow we still believe that we can do things that we have never done before.

As an example, consider a graduate student preparing to write her dissertation. She, at this point in her life, has had no experience writing dissertations. It may be true that she has successfully completed a thesis for her masters degree, or that she has successfully written other things. But she has never written a dissertation. She may rationalize her ability to do it, reasoning that she has successfully written many other things, and many other people on earth have successfully completed their dissertations, so why not her? But the fact remains, she has never personally written a dissertation. At this point in time, there is no personal empirical evidence to support her endeavoring to write a dissertation. But despite this, she believes that she can and in fact does write a successful dissertation.

Whenever we set out to do something, especially if we are doing it for the very-first-time, we are setting out, in large part, on a basis of faith in our own abilities. When we act, there are never any absolute guarantees that we will succeed. Yet, often without realizing it, we set out to do that which we personally have never done, on the basis of belief. In this sense, everyone who attempts to do something for the very-first-time, is attempting to do something which is “apparently impossible,” in the sense that there is no personal empirical evidence which could directly suggest that they can succeed in doing whatever it is they are attempting. It is only after a person succeeds in doing something for the very-first-time, that they may appeal to personal experience as evidence of their ability.

In the scientific world, the absence of empirical evidence is said to suggest that something does not exist or is impossible, or at the very least that there is no reason to yet believe that something exists or is possible. In the world of human actions and endeavors, it is often sheer belief which dictates that which can and cannot be accomplished by an individual. Now, my reason in writing this post has to do with the fact that many people appeal to a lack of positive empirical evidence as grounds that they cannot do something. But this is absurd. As we have seen, there cannot, even in principle, be any empirical evidence which suggests that a person can do something if they have not yet done it. If a person wishes to demonstrate that they cannot do something, they must therefore concede that they simply don't believe they can do it.