(Just because I know it will drive some people crazy, I'm warning ahead of time that this is basically all my opinion, without scientific basis)
quote:
you may choose to believe anything you wish. two plus two makes five? If it makes you happy, believe it.
But I'm saying that I can't just do that. I can't just say 2+2=5 and actually believe it. I can repeat it over and over to myself in my mind, but no matter how much I do, at the end of the day I still know that 2+2=4.
Do you think that you could just make yourself believe that, so that whenever anyone asks you for the rest of your life what two plus two equals, your immediate reaction is to think 5? For me, if I were to try to believe it, what would happen is that I would think 4 by reflex, remember I was "supposed to" think 5, and say 5. What one says externally doesn't automatically equal internal belief.
If I recall (it's been a long time so I apologize if this isn't quite accurate), in
1984 Winston kept repeating that two plus two was five just to stop O'Brien's torture, but that didn't mean that he actually believed it (yet), and O'Brien knew this because he knew Winston couldn't just make himself believe differently on command.
To me, it's sort of like saying that (and please try not to drag this off topic, this is just an analogy) homosexuality is a choice. When did I ever sit down, think about the options, and say, "Okay, this is what I've decided to believe/be attracted to."? I don't think that we can
consciously alter our beliefs. On the other hand, I do believe that we can change our mind as new information is presented (whether by epiphany or external sources) - but that is not a process we have any choice in, either. Certain posts made on this site just recently have been making me think differently about some political concepts, by presenting from a different way of thinking - but I didn't say to myself, all right, this is what I'll believe now instead; it just happened.