Belief and knowledge not only build
up on each other, but are also the basics of human beings. Before exploring the
point at which they begin, key terms need to be identified. Belief can be
defined as an acceptance that a statement is true or that something exists.
Beliefs are based on trust and confidence that something is real to someone, or
thinks is real. Beliefs can also be called unjustified beliefs, because there
is no evidence to support that said thing is true. On the other hand, knowledge
can be defined as a justified true belief. One can notice that both of these
terms stand on the same page, just that one lies on the start while the other
one is at the bottom. Beliefs vary depending on where someone is born given the
environment, their family or their community; beliefs are impacted by all of
those factors. On a personal note, beliefs refer to the value systems one hold
and their morals. Knowledge is more tangible than beliefs, given the fact that
the previous idea has now been proved with substantial evidence. Through the The Danger of a Single Story Chimamanda Adichie states that beliefs
vary from person to person, and different cultures do not necessarily share
their beliefs since they have been raised differently. Moreover, in Chinua
Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, a novel
written in 1959 and published in Nigeria,
she explores both knowledge and beliefs, and the points at which they
start. She combines Western phrases with Igbo ones in order to preserve African
oral traditions, and make her novel a true African novel. Along the novel,
characters have been raised in the village of Umuofia and have their own
culture; they have never been exposed to other ideas until Christianity comes
along.
Adichie,
throughout her TED Talk, constantly refers to the fact that many people only
have a “single story” about what Africa, especially Nigeria, is like. People from a Western civilization who have
no factual knowledge, no evidence, regarding what occurs in Africa have been
exposed to an unreal African world. They have been exposed to a poor,
non-educated and uncivilized world; characteristics they belief are true, but
have no evidence that it is. These beliefs have been inculcated within families
as generations go by, and as mentioned previously have become unjustified
beliefs, no evidence to proof them. Adichie has lead us to realize that beliefs
begin when one is born, since they are what form a person and what a family
teaches one. Contrary to beliefs, knowledge does not start at a certain point
of someone’s life, due to the fact that is gained every day and at every
moment. Knowledge is gained by any lesson one learns or by any experience
someone is exposed to. Chimamanda Adichie has evidence that Nigeria, and other
African nations, is not how the Western Civilization depicts it and transmits
this information back to the West through her novels. At that point, human
beings are receiving knowledge because there is evidence to prove Adichie’s
point of view.
In
Things Fall Apart, Achebe presents
the reader with a contradiction between beliefs and knowledge in which it is
pretty hard to distinguish between both. For instance, those living in Umuofia
have been brought up to believe in numerous gods and an Oracle, and they get
their beliefs from them. When Christians arrive at this village, they leave
those beliefs a side since there is no evidence, no knowledge that these gods
actually exist. Nonetheless, Christians worship an inanimate god, a god that
cannot be seen and that is only present spiritually. Reverend Brown and later
on Reverend Smith present theoretical evidence such as the Catholic Bible. The
Bible is a secondary source since it tells stories that have been heard as
generations go by, but once again there is no evidence that those events have
occurred and that God actually exists. Reverend Smith would be completely
opposed to the view that Christianity is an unjustified belief, because the
missionaries refute the Igbos by saying that “all the gods you have named are
not gods at all. They are gods of deceit who tell you to kill your fellows and
destroy innocent children. There is only one true God and He has the earth, the
sky, you and me and all of us” (146). Missionaries are trying to prove the Igbo
beliefs wrong, but they have nothing to prove their beliefs are right. When the
tribal people tried to question their beliefs “The missionary ignored him and
went on to talk about the Holy Trinity” (147). It is clear that since
Christianity is based upon pure unjustified beliefs, missionaries will do
everything to deviate the conversation and try not to go into major detail.
They boast about having evidence, and they share their hypothetical evidence
with Igbos in order to have more followers and make it easier for them to
conquer the nation. At least the Igbos had the Oracle figure present, and they
could ask for advice and in response they would be getting answers about things
that actually exist; some knowledge is being transmitted.
In
conclusion, it is evident that knowledge and belief are linked together but at
some point they take their own paths. Knowledge start off as a belief, but it
is more than that since evidence needs to be present in order to prove and
justify that belief. Both Chimamanda Adichie and Chinua Achebe, through their
TED Talks and novel respectively, have taught the difference between what a
belief and what a piece of knowledge actually is. Beliefs are based on pure
emotion, what one feels and thinks is going on and happening; knowledge start
off being part of emotion but then gets build up with reason, with logic and
evidence.