Note 26 — Chapter III · THE ORGANIC SIGNIFICANCE OF THE UNCONSCIOUS

We overlook the fact that it is not the content of a belief but rather the mere condition of believing that determines its errancy or truth. The word belief, as has been said, is a derivative of the Anglo-Saxon leof, meaning preference, but we do not recognize that what one “believes” is merely what one wants to think. There are undoubtedly as many devout believers among the devotees of Science as of Religion, and upon inquiry we should probably find that the pet beliefs of the scientist rest upon as unreasoning an attitude of mind as those of the religionist. The point is that whatever is thus believed in response to personal preference is arbitrary and doctrinaire, be it evolution, relativity, or God.