the matrix of belief

subject: theism, gnosticism, pathy; and their antonyms
style: informative
source: Mark Twain

"Get your facts first, then you can distort them as you please."

I have been wanting to write this post for a considerably long time, but for some reason I never got around to it. I touched on this subject two and a half years ago in Part Three of Rabies ... but I was very wrong back then, and my logic was all mixed up, so don't bother yourself to read it.

Today I will provide you with a much-needed clarification of the distinction between atheism and agnosticism. I have never heard anyone define the terms clearly as I am about to do, because the belief is so widespread that the two are under the same category.

Atheism and agnosticism are not under the same category. It is not a matter of atheist "or" agnostic. I am not claiming only that they have different meanings, but that the two terms are in fact two separate categories, which interlock. This is the fundamental concept that you must comprehend before you can even pretend to argue about this sort of thing.

"Theist" comes from the Greek root "theos," meaning "god."

"Gnostic" comes from the Greek root "gignosko," meaning "I know."

"Pathetic" comes from the Greek root "pathetikos," meaning "impassioned." (Don't worry too much about this for now; it will come into play later on.)

"A-" is a common prefix (likewise from the Greek), meaning "not" or "without."

Most people fall prey to the common misconception that there is a list of beliefs: [theist, atheist, agnostic], and that every person must fall under exactly one of these labels, one and only one. The problems with this view are that: it completely leaves out the essential fourth term "gnostic," and it ignores the fact that the structure of belief is not a list, but a matrix.

Consider the following cross-referencing table:

	theist	atheist
gnostic	1. gnostic theist	4. gnostic atheist
agnostic	2. agnostic theist	3. agnostic atheist

(These numbers will be referred to briefly later on, only for clarity.)

Using these terms as variables rather than sweeping end results, we can now clearly see a distinction among four separate schools of thought. Here we have a much more accurate and reasonable rule to go by: Every person must adhere to one term from each category; that is, one must be either theist or atheist, while at the same time either gnostic or agnostic.

Now we need to define these terms themselves so that the matrix above can be accepted and easily understood.

Theism vs. atheism: This category designates whether an individual believes or does not believe in the existence of a deity or deities. Note that this is the only category necessarily exclusive to religious belief.

Gnosticism vs. agnosticism: This category measures dogma, the level of conviction with which an individual believes he is correct. A gnostic claims to know for certain that his set of beliefs is the correct one, whereas an agnostic concedes that it is possible for his set of beliefs to be proven wrong by another, whether by logic and rational thinking or by pathos and persuasion. Note that this category could be used to quantify beliefs in a number of contexts, but "agnostic" has come to be used almost exclusively in a religious sense.

Pathy vs. apathy: By extension, a third category arises. This category quantifies the extent to which an individual cares about his beliefs, the degree to which he wants to persuade or convince other people to see the merit of his particular set of beliefs.

The introduction of this third category to the system establishes eight distinct categories of religious belief:

	pathetic	apathetic
1.	1a. pathetic gnostic theist	1b. apathetic gnostic theist
2.	2a. pathetic agnostic theist	2b. apathetic agnostic theist
3.	3a. pathetic agnostic atheist	3b. apathetic agnostic atheist
4.	4a. pathetic gnostic atheist	4b. apathetic gnostic atheist

Obviously, none of these dichotomies are absolute. An individual can be in the middle of the road on any of these categories; but it is important to note that, just as with any binary system, no individual can be entirely ambivalent, and he must lean (however slightly) toward one side or the other.

To summarize, in layman's terms:

(A)theism is what you believe.

(A)gnosticism is what you know.

(A)pathy is how much you care.

And now I ask of you, which of these eight labels most closely fits your own beliefs ?

I am 3a ... :D

[The opinion segment:]

Agnosticism, to me, is common sense. No matter what you believe, and no matter what evidence (or who knows what else) you have to back it up, if you have common sense and are a reasonable human being, you have to admit that you would surrender your beliefs if an alternative school of thought arises that carries more evidence or more closely matches your spiritual needs.

Gnosticism, on the other hand, is hubris: an unfortunate flaw of the human mind, which can in fact grow to be extremely dangerous to the mental well-being of oneself and of others.

If you are confused about which is better, between theism and atheism, consider watching NonStampCollector on YouTube. He is sure to be able to clear things up for you, and I cannot recommend his videos enough. They are earnest, intellectual, considerate, and incredibly enlightening.

Pathy versus apathy is a matter of personal preference. You either care or you don't; I can't blame you either way. Nobody can rightfully tell you whether or not you should care about something.

[Posted at 9:22]