You Don't Choose What To Believe In

[GameOver22]

Jay520 said:

GameOver22 said:

Jay520 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.

The OP doesn't question whether we can alter our beliefs. It questions if we choose our beliefs.

Key sentence bolded.

You can choose to change your beliefs. But that doesn't you choose the beliefs you subsequently obtain.

Good point. Poor wording on my part.

What I mean is that I can choose to belief something different based on information I'm exposed to. For example, in one of my post, I mentioned my belief that Iraq had WMDs, which changed when I gathered more information. At first, I held one belief. This belief then changed, and I subsequently held a different belief (Iraq didn't have WMDs). In other words, I gained more information, and I used this information to choose a new belief.