Sometimes we hear reasoned arguments that oppose a view to which we are emotionally committed; sometimes we hear a passionate plea for a view we have good reasons to reject.
Distinguishing between belief and knowledge is not easy. Perhaps defining these concepts in terms of reason and emotion helps, but every person has their own view of what belief constitutes. Believing is not based on something we can see; it is not based on statistics or senses. Beliefs rarely have to be justified, for many cases it is enough that you believe in something yourself. Therefore, beliefs are backed up by your emotions. There is no way to know whether God exists. Beliefs are often kept to oneself; knowledge is stated as a universal fact, but it is commonly known that beliefs are not as easily debated over, because there is no right answer.
Knowledge is something we can prove with statistics or experiments.
English: receiving from Judge his certificate of A...
English: Managing emotions - Identifying feelings
English: Albert Einstein Français : Portrait d'Al...Knowledge is often based on calculations and observations of scientists. I think the difference between knowledge and belief is that knowledge is created for the purpose of being proved wrong; belief is not. As Albert Einstein said, "no amount of experimentation can ever prove me right; a single experiment can prove me wrong." Knowledge can be proved wrong, but not right, but beliefs cannot be proved to be anything, only the product of somebody's mind. Beliefs can be debated over, but no one will ever reach a final conclusion, not to mention it ever being universally acknowledged.
Then there is the aspect of religion, which is in many ways an interesting view when discussing this topic. Christians believe that God created the Earth; scientists believe it was created through an explosion. Both parties display their beliefs as facts - as knowledge. Both have found some...