> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://www.isaacbowen.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://www.isaacbowen.com/2026/03/16.md).

# 20260316

I wrote this in [Forty-Two](/2007/01/14/forty-two.md), a short 2007 speech I wrote for an Academic Decathlon competition:

> To close: no matter what I believe, or what you believe, no matter who, if anyone, is correct, belief must be founded with a reason.
>
> If you believe, *know why*.

My current understanding: this is a navigational principle. Or a navigation-affordance principle, maybe? If you have a precise belief, and you know precisely how you arrived at that belief, the rest follows. Like literally, from there you can get to everything and everybody else. (See: "[foam](/2026/03/13/foam.md)"; not to be confused with "sea foam", although, maybe.)


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