<p>How can people be so sure of their beliefs?</p>
<p>New information is constantly being gained and analyzed. There is always someone smarter, more well-informed, and more exposed to new perspectives than you are. Humans are fallible. New 'facts' are built off mistakes that go unchecked for decades (esp. in fields like science.) As far as I can tell, it's impossible to ascertain anything.</p>
<p>How can you completely agree with a single belief, or completely reject another? What makes you so certain that your current perspective & the current info available are logical, or even remotely accurate? How can we be sure that ANYTHING is what we think it is?</p>
<p>"Hey, there's a truck coming my way. I think if I stand here it'll kill me, but how can I be so sure? Assume the truck has a momentum of...ohshi--"WHAM</p>
<p>Extreme example, but should get the point across.</p>
<p>You have to take a side. Otherwise, you have no goals. If you are a total nihlist and decide that nothing is good or bad...you have no motivation to work towards something or to keep away from something.</p>
<p>I think the point of having convictions and beliefs is just that. What's the point in believing that God created the world in 7 days(which i believe) 6000 years ago if science tells that the earth is a trillion bajillion years old? It's the fact that a person himself/herself has the self-assurance to know that what they believe is what's true to them.</p>