i know that belief is necessary to inspire and motivate, this is what makes it such hot property for advertisers and activists alike, yet i still find it hard to believe. too many of the most atrocious, and just plain moronic, events in the history of the world have been the result of those who truly believe. belief is blind and i prefer acting in the world with my eyes wide open...
can belief and skepticism, rationality and faith, be reconciled? i don't think so, for each cancels the other out. belief is an edifice built upon ephemeralities like hopes and dreams; rationality demands a firm foundation constantly tested through inspection and deconstruction. yet every day i carry this warring opposition within me...
we need to believe, but we also need to remember that we are the ones who have constructed (and can thus deconstruct and reconstruct) the objects and rituals of our belief. this critical belief is the nightmare of both politicians and advertisers, both of whom would rather have us feel "loyalty beyond reason" or express cynical skepticism, as neither of these subjectivities demands a self-conscious awareness that we are the architects of our own ideals... // stephen duncombe, 07.01.08, afterimage
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