In this podcast conversation between Zohar Atkins & economist Tyler Cowen, Atkins asks Cowen (50:25) ‘what do you think would change in your life if you were a believer?’ (Cowen is agnostic to all kinds of beliefs but very respectful and insightful to many of them). Cowen gives a fascinating and I think quite brilliant answer. He doubles down on his point that it really matters what he believes in saying, “All the oomph would come from the specific belief.”

He gave two examples: if he was Jewish he wouldn’t eat pork and if he believed in the many worlds hypothesis he would think his work mattered a lot less than he thinks it does so he would be demoralised. But he’s absolutely correct, the oomph comes from the specific belief.

While adherence to a religion in the West has declined, the power of belief certainly has not. If I believe I am of a different sex to what my body tells me I will be driven towards actions to remedy that. If I believe that voting is pointless because all the parties are equally corrupt I won’t vote. If I believe that I must please a god through rigid adherence to laws and regulations or I will be sent to hell I will try very avoid to fulfil those laws & rules no matter how stringent or minuscule they may be. Our beliefs drive our behaviours in a thousand different ways every day.

So what difference would it make to believe that resurrection is real, that love and grace drive the universe and that you can experience both in divine and sacred ways? What then? It’s a question worth pondering, it’s a measure worth holding up and saying, what does a life shaped by those things look like? I think it would be evidenced by a measure of freedom, of joy, of passion, of hope, of delight, of wonder for starters. It would be seen when those beliefs confront the harsh reality of death and sickness.

This doesn’t necessarily prove these beliefs to be objectively true, nor to say that they are necessarily the only beliefs that produce such things but it does demonstrate the power and fruit of those beliefs. Our actions are almost always rooted somewhere in our beliefs. Bad fruit, rotten root. But beliefs that produce kindness, goodness, gentleness, love, joy, peace, patience, faithfulness, and self-control say and are evidenced in how whole communities behave, well those beliefs pack a lot of oomph.

You can listen to the whole conversation here.