I believe the children are our future…
Teach them well and let them lead the way…
Show them all the beauty they possess insiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiide…
What? Oh sorry - thought we were doing a thing… Oh well, I do believe it’s 5:00 somewhere… BARTENDER!!!
Bull Durham -I Believe
Ummm, no. You don’t choose to believe anything.
One would believe the earth was flat when the evidence they have seen suggests that the earth is flat. it doesn’t matter if the evidence is true or false, just that someone accepts it as true.
I’m very familiar with logical fallacies. Which one are you accusing me of with your ad hominem attack?
I offered a simple test. Choose to believe that the earth is flat, then tell me if you actually believe it.
HINT: you won’t
It doesn’t matter what you believe, it’s what you can prove.
“You don’t choose to believe anything. One would believe the earth was flat when the evidence they have seen suggests that the earth is flat. it doesn’t matter if the evidence is true or false, just that someone accepts it as true.”
I believe that we have the ability to choose what we believe. We can choose to be open-minded and to consider new information, even if it challenges our current beliefs. We can also choose to be critical of the information we receive, and to question its sources.
In the case of the flat earth, there is a lot of evidence that the earth is round. This evidence comes from a variety of sources, including science, mathematics, and history. If someone believes that the earth is flat, they are ignoring this evidence. They are also choosing to believe in something that is not supported by the facts.
That’s my approach to it, but this is uncommon.
If I can prove it, it goes beyond belief to me. Something I can prove is something that I can know. Everything else is unfounded speculation.
I know that people ignore evidence all the time, but that’s not the point.
Again, the test is a simple one… choose to believe the earth is flat or that the moon is a giant meatball, and let me know how that goes for you. If you really can choose what you believe, it will be easy, right? Simply choose to believe it.
I cannot believe the earth is flat nor is the moon a meatball. I have no scientific data to prove it personally but the evidence is overwhelming that they are not .
Exactly. You can’t choose what you believe.
Everything you believe, you chose to believe. You were not forced. It was not automatic.
You chose to believe what the color blue looks like because people told the blue shade was called blue.
Whether you believe there is life after death or not - is a choice you make to believe that or not.
You believe you can trust someone is a choice you make or not.
That you believe “It doesn’t matter what you believe, it’s what you can prove.” is a belief you have chosen to accept or adopt as true or valid.
Not saying this to try to be funny - which, as a self-avowed clown, is kind of my go-to - but that aside:
You don’t choose your beliefs.
Your beliefs choose you.
This is what I believe!
I have a choice in what I believe . It’s either this or it’s that.
Ditto
I don’t believe that, I know it to be true.
Instead of presenting the same theoretical mumbo jumbo over and over, put it to a real-world test. Choose to believe the moon is actually a giant meatball and let me know how that worls out.
“Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.”
― Buddha Siddhartha Guatama Shakyamuni
Dos-rios (and Buddha Siddhartha Guatama Shakyamuni), completely agree.
Indeed, this is the very process of choosing what you believe.
Right, because at that point, you have no choice but to accept it.
The thing becomes known.
What you choose to believe is based on the subset of your belief system. This is where debate on who’s right or wrong coexist.
So think of it like this:
“Choosing” a belief is not like choosing an apple over an orange, or a bagel with the cream cheese or with the lox (trick question - it’s the sausage biscuit - always choose the sausage biscuit). By the same token, I’m not discussing beliefs like “I believe that French Bulldogs are better pets than Anacondas.” Yeah, that’s a belief - and maybe you are talking about those kind - but I’m not. And actually, in that example, I believe (irony intended) a more accurate statement would be “I think that French Bulldogs are better pets than Anacondas.” (I once had both as pets at the same time. Poor Frenchy… he was a good dog… just not a particularly fast dog.)
“Beliefs,” at least at the scale I’m talking, are infinitely deeper and more significant. A belief can be formed by good information or bad information - we’re talking beliefs, not “truths,” and there is quite a difference between the two. People who truly believe the world to be flat simply believe bad information (or do they??? Yes. Yes, they do.)
A true belief is nigh unshakable - until another belief comes along and, well, shakes it.
If you aren’t familiar with Harry Potter, this might not make much sense - but if you are, here’s a twist on his visit to Ollivander’s Wand Shop.
Harry Potter goes into Ollivander’s Belief Shop to choose his core beliefs. My, there are so many of them on the shelves in such pretty boxes! Why, there’s a belief about anything and everything for everyone here!
God? The trinity; a man; a woman; an undefined energy; a myth; a flying spaghetti monster - the list is endless!
Earth? Round; Flat, Oval; A figment of our imagination in which we are nothing but batteries utilized by a superior intelligence to power their world while making us THINK we are in OUR world until our energy is used up and we are discarded like the Pop Tart crumbs at the bottom of a toaster oven until this dude named Neo comes along and he takes the blue pill (or was it the red pill??) and…
but I digress. Again, endless possibilities!!
Bigfoot? Well, you get the idea.
Anyhoo, Mr. Potter starts with (insert belief here). He goes through a few boxes and hits one that he really likes! “This is it, Ollivander!! Wrap that sucker up. And don’t forget the student discount.”
Ollivander, wiser than his years says “Fine choice, Mr. Potter, but perhaps you should open a few more?” Harry says “Nope. This is the one. I’m certain of it - I can’t imagine a better belief than this one!” Ollivander says “What’s the harm, Mr. Potter… just a few more?”
“OK, OK. Not sure of the point though. This belief makes SOOOO much sense to me!”
So anyway, five boxes in, Harry opens a box and a light shines on his face, a wind whips through his hair, and he gasps “By the power of Grayskull!!! This… this… well, this changes everything…”
Ollivander smiles. “It seems you have a choice now, Mr. Potter… or do you, Mr. Potter? Do you really have a choice?”
“Certainly you can choose any belief you want, Mr. Potter… but it appears the belief has chosen you.”
If it is really a hardcore, deep belief - it chooses you - your power to honestly choose anything else is non-existent.
Only YOU have the power to believe in anything you want. It’s called “ free will “
This is what is available For some comparison.
Free will is the notional capacity or ability to choose between different possible courses of action unimpeded. Free will is closely linked to the concepts of moral responsibility, praise, culpability, sin, and other judgements which apply only to actions that are freely chosen. It is also connected with the concepts of advice, persuasion, deliberation, and prohibition.
Traditionally, only actions that are freely willed are seen as deserving credit or blame.