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PaperclipPerfector  11mo ago (text post)   27236 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of December 11, 2023

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I suspect that "belief", rather than "choice", is the word that you two are using differently. You can't choose your "beliefs(1)" in the sense of "what you anticipate what your future experiences will be contingent on taking some specific course of action", but you can choose your "beliefs(2)" in the sense of "which operating hypothesis you use to determine your actions".

I might be wrong though. It is conceivable to me that some people can change their beliefs(1) by sheer force of will.

English, a language stunningly unsuitable for such discussions, not that I know of one that's better.

I might be wrong though. It is conceivable to me that some people can change their beliefs(1) by sheer force of will.

@FCfromSSC claims to be able to do this, including intentionally convincing himself that a chair he's sitting on is a fake. I'm capable of no analogous feat, but it's hardly the weirdest thing that human cognition has done, and I'll accept his word for it.

I have not ever convinced myself of the nonexistence of a chair I was sitting on.

I could have sworn you used that specific example with me in the past, but regardless, I do remember you claiming you can change your priors/beliefs at will.

I think you or one of the other participants asked if I could disbelieve in a chair I was sitting on, but I said no. I do believe that I can change my axioms at will, because I've done it several times. It requires introspection about why one has chosen the axiom, and what other beliefs it's connected to, but the process is relatively simple once you get the right perspective.

I am pretty sure people can work themselves to the point of denying basic elements of observable reality; people have been known to handle snakes, drink poison, and self-immolate in apparent calm. The problem is that while all reason is motivated, there is no pressing motive for things like disbelieving in a chair. If there were, people probably could do it.

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