You Don't Choose What To Believe In

[GameOver22]

IIIIITHE1IIIII said:

GameOver22 said:
Well, I've never had any problem changing my beliefs....on multiple subjects....politics, religion, video games, the list goes on.

Do I actively choose to change my beliefs? Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Its probably more accurate to say that my beliefs change as I gain more information, which it turn changes how I assess different arguments.

But if I told you to immediately change your stance on any subject, your response would be, "Why?".

Because your guts would still have the same opinion/beliefs. No one can blame you for having the "wrong" opinion on something as long as your gained information is limited.

Yes, but that doesn't mean people can't change their beliefs.

Furthermore, I don't undestand what you mean by guts. Its like your hypothesizing some mediator between gaining information and opinion change. For example, I believed that Iraq had WMDs back before the Iraq War. Later information came out that showed they didn't, which altered my beliefs. What your arguing is that I gained information, which changed my gut opinion, which changed my belief. Truthfully, the whole "gut opinion" step is unecessary because, in this formulation, changing a gut belief is the same as changing a belief. Regardless, I still changed my belief.

Personally, I think your being to negative about the ability of people to analyze arguments and alter their beliefs. Religious beliefs are a poor example because they are so central to people lives, but, even then, there are plenty of examples of people changing their religious beliefs. In other words, people don't just follow their gut reactions in all instances....they also analyze and assess arguments, which can in turn alter their beliefs.