Originally Posted by toretorden

I believe in what I think relates most reliably with what I know. If you put a cat in a box and close the lid, is there a cat in the box? Yes, I believe so because in my usual experience, if I open the box, there's the cat. Did the electron exist prior to people knowing about it? Yes, I believe so. I believe they are rather crucial now so I don't see why they shouldn't have been before we discovered them.

About ghosts and such, I have more experiences with suggestion and people being gullible than I have with ghosts. As for religious experiences, well - I feel pretty much the same.

I'm perhaps fortunate in that stuff that we'll never know doesn't really bother me. Thoughts like "is my life just a dream?" or "do things come into existence by us "discovering" them?" I find are easily dismissable. I feel quite confident in my beliefs.

I think I sometimes tend to apply occam's razor to a lot of what I believe in. What explanation requires the least assumptions? For example, a door suddenly closed in the dark and spooky house. What's the simplest explanation, that it got closed by the wind (assumes that the wind can get in and is capable of closing open doors) or that it was closed by a ghost (assumes there's an existence after death and that we're still able to manipulate doors from this existence) .. ?

I know from experience that wind can get into houses and close doors - it's a simpler explanation, so that's the one I'm going for.