Can you choose what you believe?

[fkusumot]

mesoteto said:
it depens on the country you live in---in america for the most part you can choose , but in countries like china and middle eastern they have more rules and more regulations on freedom of choice

They have rules about whether you can believe the moon is made of green cheese in ChIna? Reallly? If you can give me a reference for a law that that can regulate what you're allowed to believe in I would be interested.

 

 

NintendoMan said:
We are free to believe what we want to believe.

That was not the question, That actually begs the question. Can you choose what you believe? If it based on what you want to believe then the question becomes "why do you want to believe something?"

 

 

Gamerace said:
Yes you can change even your deepest most fundamental beliefs but it requires equal deep fundamental desire to change. For example, having a baby that's asthmatic might be the motivation to quit cigarettes - something the person never could before.

A near death experience ran radically alter one's perceptions on life. So can a disastrous relationship or winning a lottery.

But can you do it without life giving you a kick in the groin first? Yes. The human brain cannot distinguish reality from vivid imagination. Ever remember doing something and then realized, no wait, that was just a dream? If you really want fundamental change in your beliefs you can consciously do so but it requires associating current beliefs with negative outcomes and a new belief with a positive outcome and vividly seeing that outcome in your head consistently over time until it takes hold.

Basically, that's what we always do, whether we are conscious of it or not.

So you're saying you can't change a belief that you have on a whim. You basically have to have a traumatic experience or some type of brain-washing to change beliefs.