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| - ==Axioms==
Axioms are basic principles determining the strength and behavior of faiths.
Axiom of Summation of Faith: For any given aspect of reality , the faith of all sentient beings as they pertain to that aspect, as well as the strength of the faith they hold, impacts what reality will be. If the faith of those who believe that something is a certain way is greater than the faith of those who believe it is not, then it is the reality; otherwise it is not.
Axiom of Derivation of Faith: The strength of one’s faith is influenced by how one came to that belief; for instance experiencing trumps witnessing, witnessing trumps claims from authority, claims from authority trumps hearsay, testimony from trusted sources trumps those from unknown or unreliable sources.
From this axiom can be derived the Axiom of Attenuation of Faith: Things far away or long in the past are subject to change or confusion and so beliefs about them are less “powerful” than what you know in the immediate vicinity and currently. This implies that the reality of a place is shaped more so by those near the place than those further away. As for altering reality, you stand a better chance of changing something you know isn’t true, the less “powerful” the means by which you know it is not true.
Axiom of Derogation of Faith: One can strengthen the impact of one’s own faith relative to that of another - strengthening their own faith while lessening that of the other’s - by truly believing that the others are in the wrong, clueless, or that their beliefs are otherwise unworthy of consideration or unmerited. One’s experience proving oneself to be correct will result in this “derogation”.
Axiom of Locality: Another reason for the fact that the results of faith are relatively local, and so each region has reality defined mostly by the people in the vicinity, is that people have difficulty comprehending the significance of people elsewhere in the world - even if they know it is true. For example one ethnic group may know rationally that they are outnumbered by another ethnic group but will still believe that they are superior to the other ethnic group. This is because part of the subjective reality is one’s experience, and one experiences interactions with those near them far more than with those further away.
Axiom of Specificity of Faith: Faith generally does not work that well in the abstract, or for anything particularly vague, because it’s hard to be convinced of a hypothetical or something poorly defined . It is much easier to conjure up an image of something specific, or be convinced of something concrete. Even abstract concepts, such as the law of gravity, are derived based on memories of past experiences, all of which are concrete experiences. The upshot is that faith can’t be used too generally - and this means that people who want to use faith to alter reality, must know pretty clearly what it is they want. So for example, simply believing you’ve outwitted someone is a very weak belief, since it is so poorly defined; instead of letting you outwit them, it makes you overlook things, and thus get outwitted. And so a person can’t be simply confident. By contrast, believing you’re stronger than someone, is more likely to make it so; and believing that your magic will overpower the opponent’s, may make it so. In scriptures, vignettes are more poignant, more relatable, more memorable, and hence more effective in conveying an idea, than a general statement.
Axiom of Paradigms of Faith: Different paradigms of how faith works can influence the strength of one’s faith. This is essentially a meta-rule as it affects how all the other rules of faith are applied. Generally people ascribe to the same set of paradigms as they are natural and derived from regular observances of the world; however the few who are able to adopt ‘superior’ paradigms - and truly believe in them, despite how unusual or contrived they may seem - can become vastly more powerful. The particular faith one believes in also determines in what ways they can alter reality.
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