Something about realizing the falsity of an existing belief makes it feel like a loss. It’s not; you can’t lose something that never was, but unless you can get people to realize and, more importantly, feel that it’s not a loss, it will continue to be a serious flaw in human reasoning.
It feels like a loss because it is a loss. Beliefs are things, and they can be held or lost—just as they can comfort and give meaning—independently of whether they are or ever were true.
Something about realizing the falsity of an existing belief makes it feel like a loss. It’s not; you can’t lose something that never was, but unless you can get people to realize and, more importantly, feel that it’s not a loss, it will continue to be a serious flaw in human reasoning.
Feeling makes it real.
It feels like a loss because it is a loss. Beliefs are things, and they can be held or lost—just as they can comfort and give meaning—independently of whether they are or ever were true.