Our server costs ~$56 per month to run. Please consider donating or becoming a Patron to help keep the site running. Help us gain new members by following us on Twitter and liking our page on Facebook!
Current time: January 26, 2025, 7:44 am

Thread Rating:
  • 0 Vote(s) - 0 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
Choosing to believe
#22
RE: Choosing to believe
(March 5, 2014 at 5:13 pm)Jacob(smooth) Wrote: On of prof Dawkins statements, under Pascals Wager, was that one can't simply decide to believe in something. I wonder if that's true.
It's possible that we can convince ourselves of things that aren't true, I think that is how phobias and other psychological blocks work. Our subconscious can accept pretty much anything as true, and can affect how we approach the real world.

I'm not sure if that means that a person can "choose to believe" something, though. I can't just say to myself "I believe that this is so" and have it happen, but with enough repetition and a heavy dose of confirmation bias I may well become convinced that it is.
"Well, evolution is a theory. It is also a fact. And facts and theories are different things, not rungs in a hierarchy of increasing certainty. Facts are the world's data. Theories are structures of ideas that explain and interpret facts. Facts don't go away when scientists debate rival theories to explain them. Einstein's theory of gravitation replaced Newton's in this century, but apples didn't suspend themselves in midair, pending the outcome. And humans evolved from ape- like ancestors whether they did so by Darwin's proposed mechanism or by some other yet to be discovered."

-Stephen Jay Gould
Reply



Messages In This Thread
Choosing to believe - by Jacob(smooth) - March 5, 2014 at 5:13 pm
RE: Choosing to believe - by eyemixer - March 5, 2014 at 5:18 pm
RE: Choosing to believe - by Mr. Moncrieff - March 5, 2014 at 5:22 pm
RE: Choosing to believe - by Bad Wolf - March 5, 2014 at 5:58 pm
RE: Choosing to believe - by FreeTony - March 5, 2014 at 6:08 pm
RE: Choosing to believe - by BrianSoddingBoru4 - March 5, 2014 at 6:13 pm
RE: Choosing to believe - by Jacob(smooth) - March 5, 2014 at 6:19 pm
RE: Choosing to believe - by Jackalope - March 5, 2014 at 6:26 pm
RE: Choosing to believe - by Jacob(smooth) - March 5, 2014 at 6:37 pm
RE: Choosing to believe - by Esquilax - March 6, 2014 at 12:38 am
RE: Choosing to believe - by BrianSoddingBoru4 - March 5, 2014 at 6:29 pm
RE: Choosing to believe - by Fromper - March 6, 2014 at 12:53 pm
RE: Choosing to believe - by Wyrd of Gawd - March 5, 2014 at 7:27 pm
RE: Choosing to believe - by Simon Moon - March 5, 2014 at 7:35 pm
RE: Choosing to believe - by Angrboda - March 5, 2014 at 11:07 pm
RE: Choosing to believe - by *Deidre* - March 5, 2014 at 11:07 pm
RE: Choosing to believe - by Angrboda - March 5, 2014 at 11:23 pm
RE: Choosing to believe - by Minimalist - March 6, 2014 at 12:09 am
RE: Choosing to believe - by Clueless Morgan - March 6, 2014 at 12:27 pm
RE: Choosing to believe - by Whateverist - March 6, 2014 at 1:06 am
RE: Choosing to believe - by Mister Agenda - March 6, 2014 at 12:43 pm
RE: Choosing to believe - by Tonus - March 6, 2014 at 1:00 pm
RE: Choosing to believe - by Angrboda - March 6, 2014 at 1:11 pm

Possibly Related Threads...
Thread Author Replies Views Last Post
  Look i don't really care if you believe or don't believe Ronia 20 8910 August 25, 2017 at 4:28 am
Last Post: ignoramus
Question Why disbelievers believe? They believe in so called “God of the gaps”. theBorg 49 9992 August 27, 2016 at 12:25 pm
Last Post: bennyboy



Users browsing this thread: 3 Guest(s)