Sure is not right

About this video

You are late. You pull the front door shut behind you and feel your pocket for the keys. Nothing. You were sure they were there, and through the window you can see them, lying on the kitchen table. Did you know where your keys were?

Thinking that something is true, without even saying it aloud, is called a belief. "My keys are in my pocket" was a belief, and it was a false one. Whether a belief is true doesn't depend on the person who holds it. It depends on how things really are: where the keys really lie.

You hold thousands of beliefs without noticing them: that the chair will hold you, that the Sun will come up tomorrow, that water puts out fire. Almost all of them are true, and you need them to live. But feeling sure happens in your head, and being right is about the world outside it. The rest of the course asks when a belief is knowledge. This video goes with the What Is a Belief? lesson of Knowledge Level 1 on Knaph.

Transcript

1. 0:00You pull the door shut. You were sure your keys were in your pocket.
2. 0:05Thinking that something is true is called a belief.
3. 0:11Then you see them through the window, on the kitchen table. The belief was false.
4. 0:17Thousands of beliefs: the chair will hold you, the Sun will rise. Most are true.
5. 0:23Feeling sure happens in your head. Being right is about the world outside it.
6. 0:29Feeling sure never makes a belief true.