Proof? What is proof?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the only way to prove something is to prove it to yourself…
No one else can do it for you, it comes from self-knowledge.
You need to come to the conclusion mentally.
Even though some people like to think other people can put a thought into someone else's head, I don't think that's actually possible.

What is good about proof though self-knowledge is that you can pick up on someone else's body language. You can take cues when that person is talking, and that they feel confident in their words, as if they have proven what they are talking about to themselves.
This kind of thing can make someone else's words more believable, even without you really knowing fully what someone is talking about.

You also can remember something you've said in the past, and pick up on what you said in that memory, and make use of that confidence in your own voice to form ideas of certainty.
When proving something to yourself, you are dependant on your memory, and it's the most certain sounding things that live on in you, and become the building blocks for proof.

I think proof can be a pretty relative thing. Take the scientific view of evolution versus religious creation theories. Both sides are pretty convincing to true believers of each camp. And proof in therir own ways can be given by each side. You cannot say one is more valid than the other if they can give good arguments, and yes faith can be an argument, after all some of the most brilliant minds in the world were and are religious people, Christian philosophers, buddhist gurus, Jewish scholars and there are even very scientific people who believe in creation (I happen to be one). I love science, and every time I think I have a deeper understanding of some complex scientific rational concept, it just makes me believe more and more that God exists. Proof... I love to see scientific theories proved but I also love the fact that I have Faith and that doesn't need proof that's what defines having faith, you just believe it no matter what. Still I wait to be proved wrong!

Proof is materialistic in many ways, think deep about it.