Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Which comes first? Behavior or belief?

Which comes first?  Behavior or belief?

Is a wedding the evidence of a belief, or proof of a behavior?! 
Do we act on our beliefs or act because we are supposed to?  Watching our students demonstrate honor during our school wide Veterans assembly gave pause to wonder which was first, their attitude or their behavior?  They were so well behaved.  Was that because they honored the veterans or acted honorably?  What comes first, action, behavior, attitude or beliefs?
Belief Attitude
It is easy to see how our actions may be based on our belief system, and how our deeds stem from how we see the world and others around us.  We do things and act because of how we perceive situations around us.  Our attitudes are based on perceptions.  Can these things change?  How do they change and what is the process?
Behavior 2 + 2 = 4
On the other hand, to learn something new, we practice the behavior, over and over, and then it becomes ingrained.  It is like we actually learn it and maybe even becomes our belief.  A simple example could be 2 + 2 = 4.  Before we knew our basic facts, we did not understand the abstract concept of addition but we learned or memorized the facts and our behavior became our belief. 
Summary
Of course a case may be made for either to supersede the second but the more examples we look at, the tighter the two become.  In fact it seems sometimes our actions prove our beliefs and our attitudes are determined by our choices, which are actions.
Final Question
What is more important, attitude or facts?

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