Can you CHOOSE to believe something different?
If you believe something, can you consciously decide to fundamentally change that belief simply through force of will and without additional information?
For example (and this is literally just something random), if someone believes (as in considers it to be truth) that ice cream is unhealthy, without obtaining any new info about its dietary aspects or whatever, could that person flip that belief and start believing that ice cream is, in fact, healthy?
Please don't fixate on ice cream or diet in your response. This question is general and applies to any belief one might hold, be it about diet or politics or religion or art or humanity in general.
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When we let politics trump science, people are needlessly put in harm's way. http://arstechnica.com/science/2017/01/self-censoring-fears...
Fascinating question. I have observed people change from fervent religionists to fervent atheists and then back again. I think without periods of genuine reflection, introspection, including the cultivation of new information and life experiences, any belief is likely to be fragile, easily changed.
ReplyDeleteA belief can be challenged and subsequently changed however it usually will not change if the person is defending themselves. They have to be persuaded and even then some won't change. Depends on what it is.
ReplyDeleteYes, I think people are malleable in belief.
ReplyDeleteFrederick Wright If it's so easily changed, I have to wonder if it's a true belief or if it's just a fleeting opinion.
ReplyDeleteYes, a person can flip their belief about ice cream without any new evidence, and it can be perfectly rational to do so.
ReplyDeleteThat's because the person can construct a new interpretation of the evidence. If the new interpretation is superior --- if it's simpler, if it's more consistent, if it explains more already known facts --- then of course the person must change their belief.
Craig Froehle unfortunately our narcissistic culture fails to make much of a distinction. All fleeting opinions are stoked and caressed and coddled to give their owner an inflated sense of worth.
ReplyDeleteI've changed religious beliefs and political beliefs both in my life. Christian to atheist and conservative to liberal. Both through learning more information about my beliefs and deciding who I was wasn't right for me anymore.
ReplyDeleteDavid Ratnasabapathy Aha, it is just that reinterpretation/reformulation process that intrigues me. Without new evidence, it seems like someone would have to WANT to have a new belief (that's still consistent with the evidence they know about...or maybe they're willing to discard/discount some of the evidence) before such a process could be undertaken. And, as someone who values facts over beliefs, I have a hard time understanding why someone would put that much value in a belief above and beyond the facts that are needed to support a belief.
ReplyDeleteCraig Froehle
ReplyDeleteWell, all of us have at least some moments of introspection, all of us muse upon and try to make sense of our lives. New interpretations of old evidence can arise then without necessitating any deliberate effort.
Craig Froehle as with most things, I think it does come down to incentives.
ReplyDeletePatrik Hanson How did you come by that opinion?
ReplyDeleteIf someone holds to a belief without any supporting evidence, then they could potentially consciously change that belief without any evidence as well. Evidence is the lynchpin that secures our beliefs to reality. Without supporting evidence, beliefs are flimsy and can change with the wind.
ReplyDeleteBrad D Or (and I'm just throwing this out there for discussion), if a belief isn't tethered to objective evidence, couldn't it be clung to ardently and be as immutable as the firmament?
ReplyDeleteCraig Froehle For some people, yes, I think they can cling to a belief without any supporting evidence. But that does not necessarily make that belief any more solid. No matter how firmly held a belief is, if you choose to believe it rather than having been persuaded by evidence, then that choice is the only thing holding the belief together, and the belief can change if your choice changes.
ReplyDeleteBrad D what about cutural values? They're believed because they're inculcated at an impressionable age. They aren't arrived at through evidence, but neither are they a choice.
ReplyDeleteIf you keep repeat to yourself or if you are repeated to yourself a lot, I think you will end up believing in the fact.
ReplyDeleteDavid Ratnasabapathy Cultural values I think actually could pose as a great example. Not in terms of how the value is adopted for the culture as a whole, but for how those values determine how strongly an individual identifies with that culture. If, for example, you have a culture that prioritizes physical strength and prowess, and you have someone within that culture who is a 90 pound weakling, they're most likely not going to identify very strongly with their culture, if at all. They will most likely feel that either the culture is flawed or that they are flawed. Either way, they will most likely choose to abandon the traditional path their culture says will lead to success and look for a way that they can actually follow.
ReplyDeleteI feel like the answer is no, despite everybody else's responses. The most convincing argument is the reinterpretation of previous information, but it seems like that comes from learning new information about how to connect what was already there. Somewhere along the line, there has to be a catalyst, and that catalyst is a new understanding of something.
ReplyDeleteDante Johnson My hunch is similar to yours, but I wasn't sure, so I thought I'd gather some other thinking on it. It's an interesting debate.
ReplyDeleteMost facts people know come from a source they trust and that amount of trust comes with the fact. The more you trust the source, the more you feel compelled by the fact.
ReplyDeleteIf the source feels sketchy or has a bad reputation revealed later, this might make you question the facts from that source.
This is a simple example of how a fact might come into question without the methods of the fact's validity coming into question, but by proxy of the source.
That "revealed later" part is additional information, though.
ReplyDeleteDante Johnson but not information about the fact, only the source. For example you might learn that a teacher lied on their resume which might make you question things you learned from them that had nothing to do with the resume.
ReplyDeleteYou are correct, but the original question didn't have that limitation about the information. And I believe that was by intention, not accidental omission. That lack of limitation is why I said no.
ReplyDeleteDante Johnson Interesting.
ReplyDeleteCraig Froehle did you intend to exclude source from the possible reasons to change?
John Lewis By "source," do you mean evidence, as stated in the original question?
ReplyDeleteCraig Froehle without new "evidence", or external influence, I don't see how, and why, someone would change beliefs.
ReplyDeleteUnless you decided suddenly that you enjoy ice cream so much, that it must be good for you.
A quick Google search always finds justification for the weirdest theories, anyway :)
So I'll give some context. I was wondering today if I could just will myself into believing -- truly believing -- that at least one deity exists. Or, did I begin life as a skeptic and just haven't come across compelling evidence to change my mind? I think the latter, but it was an interesting thought-problem to mull over. People who change their religions have always fascinated me. I mean, if you truly believe that deity(ies) A (thru Z) exist and rule the universe, how on earth could you read a book or two and just change belief systems entirely? It seems like a feat I am simply not capable of.
ReplyDeleteread a book or two is additional information.
ReplyDeleteDepends where you start from.
Some people raised in non-religious families (not atheists, not secular, just didn't care), may feel a need for something, and go for a religion, or a spiritual group.
Having started very religious, because of family, and starting to question and read things (incl. the Bible), I'm not going back.
Those that can claim to have been religious -> Atheist -> religious, puzzle me.
Having a doubt about their sincerity.
I know of extremely smart people who sincerely believe in gods. Martin Gardner, for one. No-one could be more skeptical, no-one could be a better advocate for rationality. Yet he was a fideist.
ReplyDeleteSuppose we try to understand their thought processes. We build a model of their worldview in our minds. And the next thing we know the model's escaped and replaced ours, and now we too believe --- while still being (just like them) rationalists and unabashed skeptics.
The science of facts, why some matter and some don't.
ReplyDeletesciencedaily.com - Facts, beliefs, and identity: The seeds of science skepticism