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Is belief a choice? If a posit a claim, can you decide, there and then, that you believe it?
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A Choice
- Thread starter Wiccan_Child
- Start date
If you believe it is a choice, one could choose to honestly believe that "No" is the correct answer to this poll to prove it? Seems simple enough.
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Resha Caner
Expert Fool
This has "it depends" written all over it. But wrt the issues raised by the 1st 2 replies, one could be in a situation where there is no choice and still be aware that there is no choice.
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Eudaimonist
I believe in life before death!
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It doesn't seem possible for me, at least. Maybe other people can do that.
eudaimonia,
Mark
eudaimonia,
Mark
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pgp_protector
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Yes & No, depending on multiple factors & information.
If you post the claim that you're 5 Feet, 3 Inches tall, Yes I can believe that.
If you post the claim that you're 12 Feet, 7 Inches tall, No, I don't think I can believe that.
If you post the claim that you're 5 Feet, 3 Inches tall, Yes I can believe that.
If you post the claim that you're 12 Feet, 7 Inches tall, No, I don't think I can believe that.
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I don't think that belief is a choice, but I think we can certainly choose what we'll each accept as evidence in favor of one position or another.
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Mling
Knight of the Woeful Countenance (in training)
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Not really, but in some ways you can act in ways that are indistinguishable from choosing to believe. You can decide that a belief is good and useful, and that all good people should believe it, and behave as if it is true, and refuse to entertain any thoughts to the contrary...without ever actually believing it. Most people who do this, though, don't let themselves really explore their thoughts enough to realize they are doing it.
(Though, I have heard of exactly one person who did it deliberately. He knew he didn't believe in any gods, but believed that good people should go to church, so he did and actually taught Sunday school.)
(Though, I have heard of exactly one person who did it deliberately. He knew he didn't believe in any gods, but believed that good people should go to church, so he did and actually taught Sunday school.)
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Lord Emsworth
Je ne suis pas une de vos élèves.
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I think that what we believe is not necessarily based solely on evidence and facts, but to a greater or lesser extent based what we want or would like to be true. And since in compatibilim desires etc play a not unsubstantial role with respect to making choices, we are actually getting into the direction of belief as a choice.
However ...
Can we there and then choose to believe so-and-so? That depends of course on several things.
How much is a given person lead by his/her desires for something to be true? It will be different from case to case.
Is compatibilism what you are asking about? Keep in mind that there is no actually open future, merely a future that could be different depending on what you want ect. In the "there and then" your desires are of course already a given.
(If you are asking about libertarian free will ... There is no libertarian free will, and hence there are no libertarian free choices at all.)
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SithDoughnut
The Agnostic, Ignostic, Apatheistic Atheist
Beliefs are what you base choices upon, so I don't see how they can be choices in themselves.
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secondtimearound
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Yes and No. We have beliefs that are hard wired into us that we really have no choice but to believe. Your belief that you are experiencing pain for instance. These are experiential beliefs formed through our interaction with reality and make up the very foundation of our beliefs; properly basic beliefs.
The choice you have is how far you go in search of the experience required to form these properly basic beliefs. If you choose to rely only on your logic and reason in pursuit of the knowledge of God's existence, instead of trying to experience Him for yourself, than you made that choice.
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If Bill Gates (the richest man in the world) offered to pay you $1,000,000.00 to believe he could fly like a bird, could you choose to believe him? I think not. You might be able to pretend you believe him just to get the money but deep down you would know you were lying.I chose yes; I believe that belief is a choice and I made the decision to believe that and to vote for yes.
Ken
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Somber
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The reason it would be impossible to believe that, is because I had already learned by logic and by my own choice to believe that humans can't fly like birds without some type of device. So I guess once a belief is chosen, another one will be refused and seen as illogical if it conflicts with the other. You can also choose not to believe. Everything seems to be a choice. ;-)
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Mling
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People change their beliefs all the time, though, often somewhat against their will--they really want to believe something, but ultimately just can't.
Can you? If all the evidence points toward something, and you have examined it, and it all seems sound and convincing--you can just ignore it and believe something that contradicts everything that appears to be true?
A lot of people in that situation end up in the above condition I described.
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No you didnt choose to believe it, reason and logic DEMANDED that you believe it; you had no choice in the matter
Youre halfway there. So do you agree there are times when you cannot choose to believe?
Can you give an example of choosing not to believe something that is obviously true without lying to yourself?
Ken
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bricklayer
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Human beings approach ontological certainty by the process of exclusion.
It is not so much that an idea is proven as it is that all the other ideas considered have been des-proven. What remains is what we are left to believe. Everyone is left to believe something; on this we have no choice.
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Well I don't believe any of that. Human beings appropach ontological certainty by the process of empirical induction. Exclusion would take forever on even the tiniest idea, given that absolute negatives cannot be (dis)proven, and you'd be bound to run into at least one of those if considering all other ideas.
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leftrightleftrightleft
Well-Known Member
I think beliefs are the basis for choices. Everyone that responded to this poll made a choice based on their beliefs. I think if you chose "yes" then you're just contradicting yourself.
I think we are inclined to have certain beliefs based on a well-ingrained bias. Our bias develops from the moment we're born and develops through all our life experiences, upbringing, education, thought processes and relationships. I don't think we are even aware of most of our biases, but they influence all the beliefs we hold.
I think we are inclined to have certain beliefs based on a well-ingrained bias. Our bias develops from the moment we're born and develops through all our life experiences, upbringing, education, thought processes and relationships. I don't think we are even aware of most of our biases, but they influence all the beliefs we hold.
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