Do you control what you believe?

[Whateverist]

It may be that conscious awareness of contradictory desires, in other words gaining a perspective from which possessing them both makes some kind of sense, may actually enable the individual as a whole to reconcile those competing desires.

In what way could we reconcile contradictory/competing desires?

We -consciously- don't reconcile anything. All we do is hold up the mirror of mindfulness. What I'm suggesting is that doing so may (in some way I don't understand at all) allow the total consciousness (mostly unconscious) to recognize the conflict of desires. It may well be that the wellspring of motivation is not terribly bright, desire may just be desire with no intrinsic prioritization. The conscious mind is a product of the total consciousness, not an alternative to it. While indeed the conscious mind has not the power to make choices which do not trace back to the base desires of the total organism, it may nonetheless play a clarifying role in the way conflicting desires are reconciled. And not directly by conscious decision but indirectly through mindful recognition of how the actions taken in the service of competing desires is (or is not) paying off. What we consciously notice and recognize is at the same time a part of the awareness of our total consciousness. So what I am suggesting is that conscious awareness may play a role in how the unconscious comes to grips with conflicting desire which may in turn lead to a more fruitful reconciliation of desires at an unconsciousness level. Not directly as a result of our decision, but indirectly through the use the unconscious mind makes of our conscious mind.

I've read about this too. I've never been convinced that the activity detected is evidence that conscious activity is determined by unconscious activity. I assume that conscious activity and unconscious activity are connected. What is being measured here may merely show the marshaling of those unconscious underpinnings in support of the conscious activity.

What made you suspect that the evidence was wrong?

I don't suspect the evidence is wrong. I think it may not be interpreted correctly.