Is Seeing Believing?

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     Do we have to see something to believe it? Well, that depends on what it is you are trying to believe. Simply viewing something may just serve to confirm your previous notions of what you had already imagined. We can't really see wind, and we don't have a lot of wind-deniers. Of course, that's an obvious example, because we can feel it. If another sense can confirm the existence of something, do we really need to have the others involved? Diana L Eck argues that "Seeing is not a passive awareness of visual data, but an active focusing upon it, "touching" it" (Eck 15). The way she describes it as "touching" this data is fascinating to me. Going back to that phrase, "I have to see it to believe it," it holds true sometimes! Vision as touch can be really affirming! Touch is one of the strongest senses because when something is tangible there's not a lot of room for debate as to whether it exists or not, or what it looks like. Perception of touch is probably the most alike in the entire world. Vision, in addition, also reveals a lot to a person. You can argue all day about taste and what something sounds like or reminds you of, but those arguments fall flat when you have physical or visual evidence. Of course, there are people who will deny the existence of things such as the moon landing even though we have photos because they themselves weren't there to see it; that's why they don't believe it. That's where the distinction really comes in-- a lot of people might not take someone else's word when they have seen something. It's a classic trope in horror movies- 

- "I just saw someone in a ski mask!"

- "Yeah, you're just tired."

    Because they didn't see it, they don't believe it: there was no evidence or proof for them. Vision is the evidence, for a lot of people. For others, faith will outweigh this need for evidence. Kids don't need to see Santa leaving presents for them under the tree, they just believe in him. And this belief can be so extremely strong that senses such as vision and touch are unnecessary to believe. Faith isn't a sense, but it really can outweigh all of the senses, which is truly impactful. 


Comments

  1. Hana MemisevicMay 13, 2022 at 1:40 PM

    i also was instantly drawn to using the phrase "seeing is believing" when talking about sight and religion. I like the way you approach your argument though, the question "If another sense can confirm the existence of something, do we really need to have the others involved?" is really fascinating and I really appreciated it.

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