What do you think makes a reason for believing something a good reason or a bad reason? In other words, if I have a reason for believing something is true, when would that reason be a good one and when would it be a bad one?

This question seems philosophical at best. Definitely not arts related.

Explanation:

However, I'll give you an answer, though it may not be the one you're looking for. If I understand the question, you want to know how to justify what you believe in.

If it makes you feel any better, this is an age old question, and you're certainly not grappling with things that haven't been grappled with before by everyone at some point.

In my view there are three main sources that make a belief legitimate. Your "reasons" if you will:

- Someone you deem trustworthy

- Logic/Data

- Divinity

If your belief stems from someone you trust, such as a parent, or possibly a teacher, it isn't necessarily "blind faith" like some believe. You use your critical thinking skills to determine if that person can indeed be trusted by asking things like "Is this person well educated in the subject matter?", "Are they biased because of personal issues?", "Have I verified that they were trustworthy with previous subjects?" The answers to these will very likely indicate whether they are a reliable source for your belief system.

Next is Logic/Data. This is not infallible like many choose to believe, there are many ways to corrupt data sets or incorrectly interpret hypotheses and even conclusions of different studies. However, at some point you have to make the best decisions with the data available to you. You do your best to understand all different scenarios and variables and you use that to start to construct your personal opinions and beliefs, leaving room for correction as more data becomes available.

Lastly, there is divinity. Many choose to ignore this one for fear of ridicule or a week belief system. I myself believe that divinity starts where or reasoning (or logic/data) end. Many things in this universe cannot be explained and then we must submit ourselves to the idea that there is a greater power than we understand. I personally believe that this is the ultimate source of truth. Our logic and reasoning skills are limited and that is why we can access truth from a higher power. I don't want to delve to deeply into religious context for fear of offense, but if you'd like to understand more about this, I'd be happy to discuss it further.