Martin Stringer on Situational Belief

In an interview (Podcast) Stringer discusses his concept of 'situational belief' here

I don't disagree with Stringer's concept of 'situational belief' but it begs the question if 'belief statements' are indeed "beliefs" (in the way that the West considers them to be) or merely statements of situational acceptance and rationalizations. Furthermore, I think the interviewer is ill informed about Festinger and the theory of cognitive dissonance. Dissonance theory actually accounts for these contradictory "belief-statements" that Stringer wants to discuss. They are not incompatible at all, contrary to what both of them think in the podcast. The concept of belief is much more nuanced than just belief-statements. It's as if they've never heard of someone lying or exaggerating the truth.

Hermann Hesse wrote in both Siddhartha and Journey to the East that

"Words do not express thoughts very well; everything immediately becomes a little different, a little distorted, a little foolish. And yet it also pleases me and seems right that what is of value and wisdom to one man seems nonsense to another."

Which is also to say that we do not always convey accurately what we think to others or ensure that others will accurately understand what we mean when we say something. In this sense, I would argue that language or "belief-statements" - as empirical data - is insufficient to measure or ascribe belief to another person. There has to be more to it.

Anyway...if I keep going this goes into my thesis and that would make this blog post much longer than it intended to be. For now it is sufficient to make my point that "situational belief" is not incongruent with Festinger's theory of cognitive dissonance and that 'belief-statements' are in fact insufficient markers for a fruitful and meaningful discussion of belief. Sticking to statements only plays on the surface of the iceberg as opposed to a holistic consideration.

There is a response by a Liam Sutherland to Martin Stringer at the Religious Studies Project: here